Mavericks at Warriors
The Golden State Warriors won the opener of a stretch in which nine of 10 games are at home and strive to claim another victory when they host the lowly Dallas Mavericks on Friday. Golden State improved its NBA-best record to 28-5 by shooting 56.8 percent from the field during Monday's 121-111 win over the Toronto Raptors.
Point guard Stephen Curry (28 points), small forward Kevin Durant (22) and shooting guard Klay Thompson (21) each scored 20 or more points in the same game for the 11th time — and the Warriors have won all 11 contests. Durant matched his season best of 17 rebounds against the Raptors and is averaging 29 points and 16 rebounds while posting back-to-back double-doubles. Dallas improved to 4-14 on the road with a 101-89 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday. The Mavericks have notched three of the road wins in Los Angeles, beating the Lakers twice and the Clippers once.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Dallas), CSN Bay Area (Golden State)
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (10-23): Dallas has won four of its past seven contests and allowed 95 points or fewer each of the victories. It didn't look like a winning performance when the Mavericks allowed 57 first-half points but Dallas outscored Los Angeles 31-13 in the third quarter and gave up just 32 second-half points. "We gave up 57 points (in the first half), you can't really win doing that and giving up that many baskets," point guard Deron Williams said in a postgame television interview. "We locked in in that third quarter, allowing 13 points and doing the same thing in the fourth."
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (28-5): Golden State's NBA record of not experiencing back-to-back losses is up to 119 consecutive games and Thompson credits the team's business-like approach as the main factor for why it can so easily bounce back from a defeat. "I think it is just our ability to be pros and take every game serious," Thompson said at a news conference Thursday. "It is easy to kind of overlook teams when you have so much talent on this team. But you realize every player is in the NBA for a reason and everyone can play and you can't give any team extra confidence against us because that's when they get going." Thompson averaged 33.5 points and was 27-of-47 from 3-point range in four games against Dallas last season but had just 20 points in this season's first meeting.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Warriors recorded a 116-95 home win over the Mavericks on Nov. 9 and have won 13 of the past 16 meetings.
2. Dallas PF Dirk Nowitzki (illness) sat out Thursday and is questionable to play against Golden State.
3. Curry (1,716) needs three 3-pointers to tie Dale Ellis for 15th-place on the all-time list.