Warriors crush Mavericks with balanced attack
DALLAS -- The Golden State Warriors found their groove without injured star forward Kevin Durant.
After an impressive victory at Oklahoma City the night before, the Warriors put on an offensive clinic Tuesday at Dallas, drilling the Mavericks 112-87 at American Airlines Center.
The victory was the Warriors' fifth in a row after staggering around .500 since Durant left the lineup with a knee injury Feb. 28. Although Durant traveled with the team for the first time since the injury, his return is not imminent.
But with the type of weapons Golden State possesses, it was only a matter of time before it figured out how to adjust without their leading scorer. Guard Klay Thompson led the balanced attack with 23 points, that included going 5 of 8 from beyond the arc. Backcourt mate Steph Curry had a breezy night with 17 points and nine assists.
The Warriors (57-14) collected 34 assists on 43 baskets.
The game didn't play out the way Dallas hoped as Mavs fans awaited their own Curry -- Seth, who is enjoying a breakout season -- going head-to-head with his older brother in what was being billed as the Curry Bowl.
It started off well with six Mavs drilling 3-pointers in the first quarter for a 30-28 lead. But it all fell apart from there. Golden State reeled off 34 points in the second quarter to lead 62-50. A quick 7-0 spurt to start the third quarter put the game out of reach for good.
The well-oiled Warriors led by 20 after three quarters and were shooting better than 57 percent from the floor and well over 40 percent from beyond the arc.
Ian Clark added 18 bench points for Golden State and Patrick McCaw had 10.
Dallas (30-40) was led by Dirk Nowitzki's 16 points and nine rebounds. Nerlens Noel had 14 points and seven boards. Seth Curry had a disappointing evening, finishing with 10 points on just 4-of-12 shooting.
Forward Harrison Barnes, who has had a strong season in his first year with Dallas, did not fare well against his former team, going 2 for 10 from the floor for five points. Wesley Matthews was also held in single digits with eight points. Point guard Yogi Ferrell had 12 points.
NOTES: Warriors G Andre Iguodala sat out Tuesday's game with a left hip strain. ... Coach Steve Kerr, in reaction to NBA commissioner Adam Silver's recent memo to team owners about the seriousness of resting players, said he would be willing to reduce the season from 82 games even "at the expense of my own salary." Kerr even going down to 75 games would "make a dramatic difference." ... Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle remains six wins shy of passing Red Holzman (696) for 18th place on the NBA's all-time wins list.