The Golden State Warriors outshot and outrebounded the Dallas Mavericks while smothering Luka Doncic en route to a 112-87 win in game one of the Western Conference Finals. Stephen Curry led the Warriors in both scoring (21 points) and rebounding (12 rebounds). He did not have a great shooting game (7-16 from the field--including 3-9 from three point range--and 4-7 on free throws) but in a game in which both teams went with small lineups he dominated the boards while also contributing four assists. Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins scored 19 points each. Wiggins also had the primary responsibility of guarding Doncic. Klay Thompson had a solid, if not spectacular, performance (15 points, five rebounds, four assists). Kevon Looney dominated early in the game--TNT's Stan Van Gundy deemed him "the first quarter MVP"--and Looney finished with 10 points on 5-5 field goal shooting plus five rebounds, four assists, and two blocked shots. Although no Warrior had an outstanding game, collectively the Warriors performed very well, shooting .561 from the field and outrebounding the Mavericks 51-35.
Doncic led the Mavericks with 20 points and seven rebounds, but he shot just 6-18 from the field and he committed seven turnovers. Spencer Dinwiddie scored 17 points off of the bench, but Jalen Brunson only had 14 points on 6-16 field goal shooting, and Reggie Bullock was the only other Dallas player who scored in double figures (14 points, 4-12 field goal shooting). The Mavericks rely heavily on three point shooting, but they shot just 11-48 (.229) from beyond the arc while looking nothing like the team that dominated the number one seeded Phoenix Suns in game seven at Phoenix last Sunday.
As is often the case in the NBA, the first quarter told the story. The Warriors outscored the Mavericks 28-18 in the first quarter, shooting .632 from the field while holding the Mavericks to .269 field goal shooting. The Mavericks attempted a stunning 19 three point field goals in the first 12 minutes, while making just three. The Warriors shot 10-11 from two point range, and they outrebounded the Mavericks 16-9. Those early trends--poor three point shooting by the Mavericks, excellent two point shooting by the Warriors, rebounding dominance by the Warriors--continued throughout the game.
The Warriors led 54-45 at halftime, and then they blew the game open with a 10-2 run to start the third quarter. The Mavericks never mounted a serious threat the rest of the way.
The Mavericks lost the first two games in Phoenix before taking four of the next five contests to knock out the Suns, so it is obviously too soon to count out the Mavericks--but the Mavericks must perform a lot better at both ends of the court. They will have to play harder and smarter on defense, starting with providing much more resistance in the paint; the Warriors not only outscored the Mavericks 44-32 in the paint but the Warriors shot 22-32 (.688) on their field goal attempts in the paint.