Mavericks at Warriors
The Golden State Warriors are looking worn down as the All-Star break approaches, and they've dropped three of their last four games. The Warriors will try to keep their cool and avoid a third straight setback when they host the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday.
All-Star Draymond Green was ejected and forwards David West and Andre Iguodala each earned technical fouls in Tuesday's 125-105 loss to Oklahoma City, but the team wasn't putting the loss on the referees. "It was a rough night," Golden State star Stephen Curry told reporters. "But if we honestly are going to say they're the reason we lost the game tonight, I think that's off. We've got to look ourselves in the mirror and see what we can do to control the game, because we know that's stuff that we can't control. As much as we want to complain in the moment or try to argue with the refs about what they should have seen and calls not going our way, as we go down the stretch of the season and in playoffs, if that's something that's going to get under our skin consistently and impact our performance, we're going to be in trouble." The Mavericks are looking to bounce back after getting outscored 13-0 down the stretch of a 104-101 loss at the Los Angeles Clippers, their sixth loss in the last seven games. "They made a little run and got their fans into it, but this one is especially tough," Dallas guard Yogi Ferrell told the team's website. "Going up and playing so well, and then to come up short. You know, this loss shouldn't have happened."
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FS Southwest (Dallas), NBCS Bay Area (Golden State)
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (17-37): Future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki scored 12 points in 25 minutes on Monday and became the sixth player in NBA history to pass 50,000 minutes for his career. "It is amazing," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle told reporters. "Look, it's 20 years and 50,000 (minutes), and that's not including playoffs. ... I just really believe that Dirk's record of high level of excellence, longevity and durability is one of the most remarkable I've ever seen in the sport. He's still playing, and he's still a big factor in an NBA game." Nowitzki, 39, is averaging 12.1 points on 45.5 percent shooting and 5.6 rebounds in 24.9 minutes.
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (41-13): Curry averages 27.3 points but is putting up 20.5 over the last four games and is shooting 28.9 percent from the 3-point line in that span. Green scored in single figures in each of the last three losses and joined Kevin Durant in each committing five of the team's 25 turnovers on Tuesday. Durant is the one Golden State star not struggling on the offensive end and is averaging 32.3 points on 68.1 percent shooting over the last three contests.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Mavericks SG Seth Curry, younger brother of the Warriors' Stephen, has yet to play this season and will reportedly undergo surgery to repair a stress reaction in his left tibia, ending his 2017-18 campaign.
2. Green leads the NBA in technical fouls with 13.
3. Golden State took the first three meetings this season and nine straight in the series.