Warriors at Mavericks
The Golden State Warriors return to the scene of one of their six losses when they visit the Dallas Mavericks in the opener of a three-game road trip. Warriors superstar Stephen Curry sat out that 114-91 setback on Dec. 30 with a leg injury but is looking plenty healthy of late as the Warriors chase the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls’ record of 72 regular-season wins.
Golden State easily ran its record home winning streak to 50 straight with a 121-85 victory over the New York Knicks on Wednesday to sweep a six-game homestand and will have to work now to avoid overlooking the Mavericks with a showdown with the San Antonio Spurs looming on Saturday. The Warriors could find that focus due to the likelihood that they could end up seeing Dallas in the first round of the NBA playoffs next month. The Mavericks are tied with the Houston Rockets for the final two playoff spots in the West with the Portland Trail Blazers not far away in sixth and the Utah Jazz looming in the No. 9 spot. Dallas fell for the sixth time in seven games on Wednesday when a late rally against the LeBron James-less Cavaliers came up short in a 99-98 loss.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, CSN Bay Area (Golden State), FSN Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (61-6): Golden State needs to go 12-3 over the final 15 games to break the Bulls’ record and should not be worried about overplaying their starters this weekend in the back-to-back at Dallas and San Antonio. The Warriors had the luxury of letting stars Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green watch the fourth quarter from the bench in the last two games and do not have a player in the NBA’s top 25 in minutes played. Curry managed to put up 34 points in 28 minutes on Wednesday and is averaging 32.5 points on 56.6 percent shooting in the last four games.
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (34-34): Dallas made a change to a small lineup with Dirk Nowitzki starting at center on Monday and rode it to a 107-96 win at Charlotte but could not find the same magic on Wednesday. “It’s not a cure-all,” Nowitzki told reporters of the small lineup. “What, did you think we were going to win every game now? It’s going to work sometimes, sometimes you’ve got to adjust. Our coach is willing to do whatever it takes. It’s that simple.” Former starting center Zaza Pachulia has been limited to a total of 10 points and six rebounds in 19 minutes over the last two games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Mavericks G Wesley Matthews is 18-of-62 from the field in the last seven games.
2. Warriors F Andre Iguodala (ankle) is not expected to make the trip.
3. Golden State has taken eight of the last nine in the series, including a 127-107 home win on Jan. 27 in the most recent meeting.