Warriors at Mavericks
The Golden State Warriors boast a quartet of dynamic playmakers and have another on the way with injured center DeMarcus Cousins drawing closer to making his season debut. The Dallas Mavericks, who host the Warriors on Sunday, are developing their own dynamic playmaker in rookie forward Luka Doncic, who is already drawing comparisons to some of the game's greats.
Doncic flirted with a triple-double on Friday and became the youngest player since LeBron James in 2004 to record at least 25 points and 10 assists in a game while finishing with 29 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds in a 119-115 victory at Minnesota, including a 3-pointer with under 30 seconds left that helped put the game away. "We put the ball in his hands when the game is on the line," Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki told reporters. "And like I said, the confidence he has in himself down the stretch to make big plays - whether it's for himself or even the passes on to the weak side on those pick-and-rolls — he's so tough. ... The playmaking, shot-making for a 19-year old, we can say it over and over, it's incredible." The Warriors had no trouble making shots while averaging 131.7 in winning the last three games, capped by a 146-109 drubbing of the Chicago Bulls on Friday. "I loved the energy tonight from the bench," Golden State coach Steve Kerr told reporters after the win. "Guys were having fun. It felt good. I think this week's been good. A couple of feel-good games, and now we've got some tough ones coming up, so we've got to be ready."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBCS Bay Area (Golden State), FS Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (28-14): Star point guard Stephen Curry passed Jason Terry to move into third place on the all-time list for 3-pointers made, reaching 2,285 after going 5-of-11 from beyond the arc in Friday's win. Curry trails only Ray Allen (2,973) and Reggie Miller (2,560) and his teammates expect him to break the record with ease. "It's definitely cool," Kevin Durant told reporters. "But we all knew he was going to break the record, so him being in the third spot is like -- for him, he's set such a high standard, a high bar. It is cool, but you got what, another season or two before you get to the No. 1 spot, and then you're going to shatter that record, so I'm waiting for that."
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (20-22): Doncic's playmaking ability will be even more in demand for Dallas due to a potential season-ending Achilles injury to point guard J.J. Barea. Barea, who leads the team at an average of 5.6 assists while serving as a spark plug off the bench, left Friday's game with a lower right leg injury that the team fears is a torn Achilles and is scheduled to undergo an MRI over the weekend. Doncic is second on the team in assists (five) while starting point guard Dennis Smith Jr. is averaging 3.9 in an injury-marred campaign that saw him miss the last two games with a back injury and leaves him day-to-day.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Mavericks SF Harrison Barnes is 15-of-52 from the floor over the last four games.
2. Warriors SG Klay Thompson knocked down seven 3-pointers in each of the last two games.
3. Golden State took 11 of the last 12 in the series, with the lone loss in that span a 112-109 defeat at Dallas on Nov. 17 in which Doncic collected 24 points and nine rebounds.