Mavericks at Warriors
Back home after another unsatisfying road trip, the Golden State Warriors will again look to regain their early-season form when they host the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday. The Warriors put plenty of points up on one of the best defenses in the league at Charlotte on Monday but could not get any stops against one of the worst offenses in a 115-111 setback. The Mavericks, behind Dirk Nowitzki and old friend Monta Ellis, will offer that defense another stiff test.
Golden State’s recent trend is starting slow, and the Warriors have been behind at the end of the first quarter in six of the last seven contests. “We don’t have to prove that we can fight back into ballgames,” said coach Mark Jackson after watching his team battle back from another double-digit deficit only to fall short. “What we do have to prove is that we can take over games early and play 48 minutes of our brand of basketball.” Dallas is coming to the end of a four-game road trip and was crushed 112-97 at Sacramento on Monday.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN, FSN Southwest (Dallas), CSN Bay Area (Golden State)
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (13-9): Dallas took the first two games of its trip in impressive fashion at New Orleans and especially at Portland, beating the Western Conference’s best team on a last-second shot by Ellis on Saturday. The Mavericks could not carry that momentum to Monday when Ellis, who spent the first 6 1/2 years of his career in Golden State, scored 21 points but got little help. “I don’t think we took them lightly,” coach Rick Carlisle said of the Kings. “I just think they outplayed us, and it was just one of those nights where they made a lot more plays than we did.”
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (12-10): Stephen Curry collected 43 points and nine assists in front of his hometown fans in Charlotte but did the bulk of his damage in the second half while trying to pull Golden State out of another early hole. The Warriors are still without Andre Iguodala due to a hamstring injury, reportedly for another 2-to-4 weeks, and are 4-5 in the nine games he has missed while allowing opponents an average of 105.3 points. Seven of those nine games have come on the road, however, and Golden State is beginning a stretch of seven of nine at home. “Great teams are great on the road and at home, especially when you know you’re better than the other team,” Klay Thompson said. “We’re about to go home, which is nice, but you’ve got to take it one game at a time.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Golden State C Jermaine O’Neal (wrist) and F Draymond Green (ankle) are both questionable for Wednesday.
2. Dallas took the first meeting 103-99 at home on Nov. 27, despite Ellis struggling to a season-low four points on 2-of-16 shooting.
3. Curry is averaging 30 points and 9.8 assists over the last five games.