WHO: Dallas Mavericks at Golden State Warriors WHAT: A loss, probably. WHERE: Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA WHEN: 7:30 p.m. CT HOW: Fox Sports Southwest or NBA League Pass THE STORY: The Mavericks are bad, and now they don’t have Tim Hardaway Jr. for the season, which somehow makes them more bad even though THJ is not that good. Then, there are the Warriors, who are without one Stephen Curry tonight, but are otherwise I believe fairly healthy and still terrifying. Good luck, Luka! Go Mavs or whatever.<doc-sep>Get live news and analysis Saturday at 5:30 p.m. when the Warriors take on the Mavericks while Stephen Curry rests as Dirk Nowitzki makes his final appearance in Oakland. The Warriors (49-22) will also rest backups Andrew Bogut and Shaun Livingston in the first of a back-to-back at home. Golden State has beaten the Mavericks in two of their three meetings, including a 119-114 victory in Dallas in January when Curry erupted for 11 3-pointers on his way to a 48-point night. DeMarcus Cousins led six Warriors in double figures with 19 points in Thursday night’s 112-89 win over the Pacers at Oracle. Dallas (28-44) is coming off a 116-100 loss in Sacramenton on Thursday that included one of standout rookie Luka Doncic’s worst games this season. The 6-foot-7 Doncic, who averages 21 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.7 assists, scored just 13 points on 4-of-19 shooting. Saturday’s game will be the Bay Area farewell for the 40-year-old Nowitzki, who nearly wound up attending Cal before deciding to skip college and turn pro in 1998. Related Articles Warriors and their fans have been part of NBA’s fans vs. players problem Steve Kerr admits he can’t stop thinking about Klay Thompson’s return Andrew Wiggins wants to play in the Olympics. Will Steph Curry appear in his first Games? Kurtenbach: The Warriors can’t make the same mistake again this offseason Warriors exit interviews: Wiseman in future plans, help for Curry, the Klay-Oubre puzzle and more The second half of the Warriors’ back-to-back will be Sunday’s game against the Pistons at Oracle. Like our Warriors Facebook page for more Warriors news, commentary and conversation. Here are the projected starting lineups: Warriors C DeMarcus Cousins PF Draymond Green SF Kevin Durant SG Klay Thompson PG Quinn Cook Mavericks<doc-sep>What. Just. Happened. The Dallas Mavericks, losers of 15 of the last 17 games, just handed the Golden State Warriors a gigantic, colossal ‘L’ on a silver platter. The Mavericks have had big victories this season. The 118-68 win against the Utah Jazz in November and the 122-84 beatdown against the Charlotte Hornets in January come to mind. But this win, given the circumstances of the Mavericks season, was different and felt really, really good. After all, the Mavericks did stop a 12 game skid at Oracle Arena with the win. Here what we observed in the Dallas victory: The Mavericks owned the three-point line Dallas put on a dominant offensive display from the opening tip. Dirk Nowitzki was hot early, leading the charge (more on that later), and the rest of the Mavericks followed suit pushing the team to their largest halftime lead of the season: The Mavs lead the Warriors 74-46 at halftime. Not a typo. It's Dallas's largest halftime lead on the road since 12/21/04 (+39 at NYK). It's the Warriors' largest home halftime deficit since 11/23/05 (-30 vs. SAS). (Stats per @bball_ref) — Bobby Karalla (@bobbykaralla) March 24, 2019 The Mavericks dominance of the arc (Golden State was just 2-17 from deep in the first) propelled the first half surge and carried them through the rest of the way. Dallas was humming offensively in general, tallying 14 assists on 21 made field goals at one point late in the second quarter, but that’s generally what happens when shots were falling like they did. For the game the Mavericks shot 21-49 from deep while the Warriors shot just 4-30. That 51-point discrepancy was one of the main reasons the Mavericks won the game like they did. Steph Curry sitting helps, and Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson will not combine to go 0-for-12 from deep for a long time. But the Mavericks did their job knocking down open shots, and the team cruised because of it. Luka Doncic triple doubles in three quarters Doncic has looked gassed during March while he’s battled injuries and seen teammates clank countless wide open looks. It appeared he might limp his way to the finish line even with an impressive body of work through the first five months of the season. However, tonight Doncic looked like his old self scoring 23 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing 10 assists in only three quarters of play giving him his sixth triple double of the season. He, like Dirk, started out hot, putting up 11-7-5 in the first quarter alone. He connected on a few triples early and that set the tone for the rest of the game. While shooting 6-of-14 isn’t incredibly efficient, he shot 4-of-11 from three and a few of those were shots he threw up on broken plays. He also went 7-of-11 from the line, with the 11 free throw attempts being the takeaway. Dirk turns back the clock In his last game at Oracle Arena, the place that quite possibly still gives him nightmares, Nowitzki played his best game of the season to the tune of 21 points (season high) on 8-of-14 shooting (5-of-8 from three) and five rebounds. Dirk was sizzling early, connecting on his first four shots and scoring 10 points in the first quarter alone. It looked like the all-star game all over again, only this time it was against the defending champs in an actual NBA game. While it’s just a blip on the radar in Dirk’s historic career, it’s always fun to keep etching his name in the history books as he did tonight with his 21-point barrage. Dirk Nowitzki just became the eighth 40-year-old in NBA history to score 20 points in a game. — Bobby Karalla (@bobbykaralla) March 24, 2019 Sports don’t always have a storybook ending, but Dirk’s career at Oracle has come full circle. It’s the building he scored his first NBA point in. It’s the building his team had a historic playoff collapse in. And now, it’s the building he had a 20-point game in his fortieth year of life. What a farewell from the legend to Oracle. With this win the Mavericks move to 29-44 and get Sacramento at home on Tuesday.<doc-sep>Game Details WHO: Dallas Mavericks vs Golden State Warriors WHEN: Saturday, March 23rd; 5:30 p.m. WHERE: Oracle Arena WATCH: NBCSBA LISTEN: 95.7 The Game Blog Buddy: Mavs Moneyball The Golden State Warriors are in a two-way race for the #1 seed with the Denver Nuggets, with the tantalizing prize of home court advantage going to the victor. That’s one reason the champs upcoming game against the Dallas Mavericks is must see TV. Another reason this game is crucial is because Luka Doncic is putting the finishing touches on a likely rookie of the year campaign (apologies to the Hawks’ Trae Young). Doncic knows a big performance against the Golden Empire would cement his clout with the NBA Twitterati. Additionally, the other three times that these teams played this season were thrillers that went down to the final seconds. Nov 17, 2018 Dallas wins 112-109 after Doncic finished the Dubs off with a late shot. Stephen Curry and Draymond Green missed that game with injuries, while Kevin Durant scored 32 in the losing effort. Excerpt from ESPN’s recap: The 19-year-old from Slovenia arrived in the NBA having led Real Madrid to the 2018 Euro League title. On Saturday, he hit a 10-footer in the lane with 1:10 left to put Dallas up 109-108, then sealed the game with two free throws with seven seconds remaining. ”I’ve been doing this when I was in Madrid, too,” Doncic said. “I love the last-minute shot. (But) of course it’s different. It’s the NBA. It’s the best league in the world.” Dec 22, 2018 The Warriors returned the favor in Oracle Arena, knocking off the Mavs 120-116 in a back-and-forth shootout. Doncic took a spill into the crowd and was knocked out of the game after a hot start. Durant had 29 points including a key 3-pointer with 15 seconds left, and added 12 rebounds and eight assists, and the Warriors held off a fourth-quarter rally. ”They made tough shots at the end. I don’t want to get discouraged because of the last three minutes,” Durant said. “... I thought the whole basketball game we played pretty solid.” Jan 13, 2019 The third matchup was another barn-burner in Dallas, as the Warriors prevailed 119-114 behind a whopping 48 points from Curry. Per USA Today: Curry’s 11 3s were the most ever by a Mavericks opponent. The last one was his most important, snapping a 114-all tie with 42 seconds to play. Both Curry and Warriors coach Steve Kerr credited Kevin Durant for switching play calls to get Curry shots rather than taking shots of his own. ”That was just (Durant) taking the initiative, knowing that I had a hot hand going,” Curry said. “Call it a decoy in terms of him being in the action, but allowing me to work. The way they were defending us, it just made sense tonight.” OH WAIT THIS JUST IN! Stephen Curry, Andrew Bogut, and Shaun Livingston will rest tomorrow against the Mavericks, per the NBA’s injury report. — Dieter Kurtenbach (@dkurtenbach) March 22, 2019 Ruh roh, how’s this one gonna shake out?<doc-sep>
Back in the beginning of March, the Golden State Warriors suffered their worst home loss of the Steve Kerr era, falling by 33 points to the Boston Celtics. That mark ended up lasting just a few weeks, as the Dallas Mavericks waltzed into Oracle Arena on Saturday night and took down the Warriors, 126-91, handing them a 35-point home loss -- a new worst mark at home under Kerr. Leading the way for the Mavericks was their brilliant rookie Luka Doncic. The youngster recorded yet another triple-double, finishing with 23 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Doncic is now fourth all-time as a rookie with six triple-doubles this season. He did it in style as well, hitting some nasty step-back 3s, and finishing a circus and-one bucket that still doesn't really make sense. Additionally, in what will likely be his final game in Oracle Arena, Dirk Nowitzki put up his highest scoring game of the season, finishing with 21 points and five rebounds. It should, of course, be noted that the Warriors were playing without Steph Curry in this game, but even still they shouldn't be losing to a tanking Mavericks team by 35 points. Especially with the likes of Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and DeMarcus Cousins still in the starting lineup. Looking disinterested in regular season games in March and April -- even earlier, at times -- has been part of the Warriors' style throughout their run, but it's been happening more often this season. It likely won't matter much come playoff time, but it has been an interesting trend to watch.