On Tuesday, the Dallas Mavericks played the Golden State Warriors as they continue their three game road trip to finish the month of April. The Mavericks are looking to get back on track and finish the month, the way they started it, on a winning streak. This is a very important game for the Mavericks as they don’t want to let go of the sixth seed in the western conference standings.

On Monday, the Dallas Mavericks played the Sacramento Kings in the first game of this back-to-back. The Mavericks started this game atrocious as they couldn’t get anything to go on their offense. The Kings were able to capitalize on the opportunity and took a 59-52 lead at halftime. The Mavericks used a big third quarter as they scored 33 points but even that wasn’t enough as the Kings did just enough to maintain control of the game to grab a 113-106 victory. The Mavericks were without Kristaps Porzingis as he continued to recover from his ankle injury thus relied on Luka Doncic as he finished with 24 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists but even that wasn’t enough for a win. The Mavericks also got production from Tim Hardaway Jr and Trey Burke as they each scored 19 points in the loss. With the loss, the Mavericks record dropped to 33-27 on the season, as they now had their winning streak snapped. The Mavericks started their three game road trip 0-1 with the loss. The Mavericks better be careful to not lose too much ground as the Portland Trail Blazers are still in the rear view mirror, with them being just 1 game behind the Mavericks. The Mavericks still need to gather some wins in the final stretch of the season in order to officially clinch the sixth seed in the western conference standings, to avoid playing in the “Play-In Tournament”.

The Golden State Warriors are coming into this game by going 7-3 in their last 10 games. They are recently coming off a close 117-113 win against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday to see their record improve to 31-30 on the season. The Warriors are coming into this season with some hopes of trying to make playoffs and those hopes have only increased by seeing their chances improve by generating some wins as of late. The Warriors are currently 10th in the western conference standings, which is the “final spot” in order to play in the “Play-In Tournament”. This team is led by Stephen Curry as they look to gather a playoff spot once the season ends. If their current trend continues, they have a pretty good shot at playing in the “Play-In Tournament” (if not, the sixth seed) if they could finish the season on a high note.

Coming into this game, the Mavericks won their last meeting with the Warriors 134-132 on February 6th, 2021. The season series is tied at 1-1, so the winner of this matchup will determine who wins the season series and gets the crucial “tiebreaker” (incase if these two teams end up with the same record at the end of the season). The Mavericks previously swept their regular season series last season 3-0 against the Warriors Overall, the Mavericks hold the all-time series with a record of 85-79.

The Mavericks started this game by having Kristaps Porzingis (left ankle sprain), Josh Richardson (right hamstring tightness) and Tyrell Terry (personal reasons) all be ruled out for this game. As a result, the Mavericks went with Doncic, Burke, Kleber, Finney-Smith and Powell as their starting five in this game. This will be Trey Burke’s first start this season and third as a Dallas Maverick in his career. The first points in the game would belong to Maxi Kleber as he nailed a three pointer for the Mavericks to get this game underway. The Warriors wouldn’t get their first points until the 10:41 mark as Andrew Wiggins nailed a layup to come within 5-2 of the Mavericks. The Warriors would call a timeout with 10:28 left in the quarter as the Mavericks extended their lead to 7-2. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks got off to a spectacular start as they made three of their first four attempts while the Warriors made just one attempt thus far. The Mavericks were able to generate a 7-2 run to grab control of the game thus far. You couldn’t of asked the Mavericks to get off to a better start than this as this was exactly the type of start the Mavericks wanted and they got it. Coming out of the timeout, the Warriors turned to Mychal Mulder as he was able to convert on a layup to come within 7-4 of the Mavericks with 10:11 left in the quarter. Luka Doncic was able to get things going for him as he nailed a jump shot to extend the Mavericks lead to 11-7 with 9:18 left in the quarter. The Warriors were able to grab their first lead in the game after Stephen Curry drilled a long three pointer to take a 12-11 lead with 8:40 left in the quarter. The Mavericks were able to grab the lead right back as Dorian Finney-Smith knocked down a three pointer to take a 16-12 lead with 8:05 left in the quarter. The Mavericks were able to extend their lead to eight points after Luka Doncic nailed two free-throws to extend their lead to 20-12 with 5:50 left in the quarter. The Warriors offense continued to struggle as Stephen Curry got the ball stolen away from him which led to fast break points by Tim Hardaway Jr nailing a layup to extend their lead to 22-12 with 5:29 left in the quarter. The Warriors would call a timeout with 4:58 left in the quarter as the Mavericks extended their lead to 25-12. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks offense was cooking as they were able to generate a 14-2 run to maintain control of the game thus far. The Warriors offense was struggling as they couldn’t generate some points with their last made basket came at the 8:40 mark in the quarter. Coming out of the timeout, the Warriors turned to Stephen Curry but couldn’t convert as he was blocked by Willie Cauley-Stein on a layup attempt, that kept the score at 25-12 with 4:44 left in the quarter. The Mavericks were able to extend their lead to sixteen points after Tim Hardaway Jr knocked down a three pointer to extend their lead to 28-12 with 3:27 left in the quarter. In the final minutes of the quarter, the Mavericks were able to maintain control of the lead and take a 36-12 lead into the second quarter. The game leading scorer after one quarter of play would belong to Tim Hardaway Jr as he scored 11 points off the bench for the Mavericks. The Warriors were led by Stephen Curry as he scored 8 points. The Mavericks played like they had a sense of urgency as their offense was cooking on all cylinders while the Warriors had nothing going their way on both ends of the court. At the end of the first quarter, the Mavericks were shooting 50% on 12-of-24 shooting from the field. The Mavericks were playing like they wanted to prove to everyone that they deserve the sixth seed in the western conference standings. The Mavericks ended the quarter on a 25-0 run to put into perspective on how well the Mavericks were playing. The Mavericks are 20-0 this season when leading after the first quarter.

The second quarter would begin by having Jalen Brunson nail a three pointer for the Mavericks to get this quarter underway. The Warriors wouldn’t get their first points in the quarter until the 11:00 mark as Jordan Poole nailed a three pointer to come within 39-15 of the Mavericks. The Mavericks were able to match Stephen Curry’s jersey number as they were able to extend their lead to thirty-one points after Dorian Finney-Smith knocked down a three pointer to extend their lead to 42-15 with 10:22 left in the quarter. To put this into perspective, the Mavericks were on the verge of reaching the 50-point mark in the game, while the Warriors hadn’t even reached the 20-point mark in the game yet. The arena where the Warriors play their games is called the “Chase Center” and the Mavericks were playing like the bank was open as everything was clicking for them on both ends of the court. The Warriors would call a timeout with 7:16 left in the quarter as the Mavericks were able to extend their lead to 47-16 after Jalen Brunson knocked down a three pointer. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks offense was on fire as they opened the quarter by making four of their first nine attempts while the Warriors offense continued to struggle as they only made one of their first six attempts taken thus far. The Mavericks were able to generate a 11-4 run to begin the quarter. If you combined the end of the first quarter to this point in the game, the Mavericks were on a 36-4 run. Coming out of the timeout, the Warriors turned to Kevon Looney as he able to convert on a offensive rebound to knock down the “tip-in” shot to come within 47-18 of the Mavericks with 6:53 left in the quarter. The Mavericks were able to extend their lead to twenty-eight points, again, after Dwight Powell knocked down a free-throw to extend their lead to 48-20 with 6:14 left in the quarter. The Warriors offense continued to struggle as there appeared to be a lid on the rim with nothing going down for them. The Mavericks were able to reach the 50-point mark in the game as JJ Redick knocked down a three pointer to extend their lead to 51-21 with 4:46 left in the quarter. A thirty point lead the Mavericks had built as you probably thought I’m crazy by writing this but it actually happened in the game, in the second quarter. Rick Carlisle would call a timeout with 4:04 left in the quarter to give his players a breather as the Mavericks lead shrunk a little bit to 51-23. Prior to this timeout, the Warriors were able to finally generate some type of scoring run as they generate a “mini” 7-4 to get their offense in some time of a rhythm. Coming out of the timeout, the Mavericks turned to JJ Redick but couldn’t convert as he missed a jump shot that kept the score at 51-23 with 3:51 left in the quarter. In the final minutes of the quarter, the Mavericks were able to maintain control of the lead and take a 62-29 lead into halftime. The game leading scorer after two quarters of play would belong to Luka Doncic as he scored 16 points for the Mavericks. The Warriors were led by Stephen Curry as he scored 12 points. To give the Warriors some credit, they were able to get their offense going to a degree but the quarter was simply dominated by the Mavericks as they were able to take any shot that they wanted. At the end of the first half, the Mavericks were shooting 45.7% on 21-of-46 shooting from the field. You couldn’t of asked the Mavericks to have a better first half than this as all the momentum was on the Mavericks’ side. If I were to tell you that the Mavericks held the Warriors to JUST 29 points in the FIRST HALF, with arguably the best shooter in the NBA in Stephen Curry, you probably think I’m crazy but that actually happened. The 29 points by the Warriors in the first half just marked the lowest points they scored in a first half this season. The Warriors just looked completely broken as they didn’t look anywhere near to what we’ve been accustomed to seeing the Warriors. To steal a phrase, “PUT SOME RESPECT ON THESE DALLAS MAVERICKS” as they deserve to be mentioned among the top teams in the western conference. This is the Mavericks’ third-largest lead at halftime on the road in franchise history.

Coming out of the half, the Warriors were able to get on the board first in the third quarter by having Stephen Curry nail a three pointer to come within 62-32 of the Mavericks. Luka Doncic was able to score the first points in the quarter for the Mavericks as he nailed a “bank shot” with 10:58 left in the quarter to extend their lead to 63-32. A technical foul would be called on the Warriors coach for arguing with the Officials with 10:04 left in the quarter, which Trey Burke nailed the “Technical Free-Throw” to extend their lead to 71-37. The Warriors offense started to find their rhythm as Mychal Mulder nailed a slam dunk to come within 71-39 of the Mavericks with 9:28 left in the quarter. The Warriors would need a humungous scoring run to even get themselves back in the game as it looked like the damage has been done. The game would begin by both teams jumping up and down from a thirty point game to a twenty-eight point game as they were simply answering each other’s shots. The Warriors would call a timeout with 7:03 left in the quarter as the Mavericks extended their lead to 80-46. Prior to this timeout, the Mavericks opened the quarter by making seven of their first ten attempts while the Warriors made six of their first nine attempts taken thus far. The Mavericks were able to generate a 6-4 run to maintain control of the game. The Warriors would need a tremendous scoring run, all while limiting the Mavericks offense to even get themselves back in the game. Coming out of the timeout, the Warriors turned to Andrew Wiggins as he was able to go to the free-throw line by drawing a foul, where he would knocked down two free-throws to come within 80-48 of the Mavericks with 6:49 left in the quarter. The Warriors finally reached the 50-point mark in the game as Andrew Wiggins nailed a driving layup to come within 83-50 of the Mavericks with 6:01 left in the quarter. The Warriors just reach 50 points while the Mavericks were on the verge of reaching 90 points in the game to put this into perspective on how this game was going. The Mavericks were able to extend their lead to thirty-three points after Luka Doncic knocked down a three pointer to extend their lead to 88-55 with 4:33 left in the quarter. Rick Carlisle would call a timeout with 4:11 left in the quarter after their lead shrunk to 88-58. Prior to this timeout, the Warriors offense started to click but it appeared that it was too late given this humongous lead. The Warriors were able to generate a 8-5 run to get their offense in some type of a rhythm to chew little parts of this large Mavericks’ lead. Coming out of the timeout, the Mavericks turned to Trey Burke as he was able to convert on a three pointer to extend their lead to 91-58 with 3:54 left in the quarter. In the final minutes of the quarter, the Mavericks were able to maintain control of the lead and take a 103-64 lead into the fourth quarter. The game leading scorer after three quarters of play would belong to Luka Doncic as he scored 39 points for the Mavericks. The Warriors were led by Stephen Curry as he scored 27 points. The Warriors offense was clicking on certain points in the quarter but with this large of a lead the Mavericks had built, they still had a long way to go to even get themselves back in the game. Through three quarters of play, the Mavericks were shooting 53.6% on 37-of-69 shooting from the field. All the Mavericks needed to do is play good basketball (at least) in the first six minutes of the fourth quarter (maybe not even that) to force the game into “blowout territory” to get their starters out of the game and give them rest.

The fourth quarter would begin by having Jalen Brunson nail a jump shot for the Mavericks to get this quarter underway. The Warriors weren’t able to get their first points in the quarter until the 11:23 mark by having Juan Toscano-Anderson nail a two pointer to come within 105-66 of the Mavericks. It appeared that both teams would take out their superstars to begin the quarter as it looked like the Warriors waved the “white flag”. If this game got within 20-15 points, maybe you would see these two coaches insert their superstars back in the game but the way the game was going, there was no reason as the game reached “blowout territory” after Nicolo Melli knocked down a three pointer to extend the Mavericks lead to 110-68 with 10:38 left in the game. The Mavericks appeared to be on their way to a blowout victory as all they needed to do is get good quality shots and drain out the clock to leave the arena with a win.

This team looked like they wanted to prove that they belong to be among the top six teams in the western conference as everything was clicking on offense. Everybody predicted that this would be a neck-and-neck, tough battle game but it was far from it, with the Warriors offense looking completely broken. The Mavericks were able to use this spectacular start to grab a 62-29 lead at halftime. The Warriors would to figure out something in the second half if they wanted to even get within range of the Mavericks because this game looked like it was on the verge of reaching “blowout territory”. This was a very important game for both teams as the winner of this game would clinch the season series and hold the crucial tiebreaker, incase if these two teams do end up with the same record at the end of the season.

In the end, it was the Dallas Mavericks defeating the Golden State Warriors 133-103 to clinch the season series and the “tiebreaker”. The Mavericks record would improve to 34-27 on the season. Luka Doncic finished the game with 39 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists in the blowout win. The Warriors were led by Stephen Curry as he finished with 27 points. The Mavericks also got production from Dorian Finney-Smith and Tim Hardaway Jr as they each finished with 13 points before the game reached “blowout territory” in the clinching series win. This game was over at halftime as the Warriors had no chance against these Mavericks. The Mavericks used a 28-0 run to seal the deal, which is the second longest unanswered run in the last 20 seasons. With the win, the Mavericks now hold the crucial tiebreaker over the Warriors incase these two teams do end up with the same record at the end of the season. The Mavericks have now won four of their last five games with this win.

The Mavericks will finish the month of April on the road as they will travel to Detroit to take on the Detroit Pistons on Thursday to close the month of April.