Mavs Lose At Golden State

OAKLAND, Calif. — Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr believes his shooting guard, Klay Thompson, deserves a spot in next month’s All-Star Game in large part because he plays on a team that won 42 of its first 46 games.

Thompson then took the court Wednesday night and demonstrated his scoring ability should be considered as well.

Stephen Curry’s somewhat unheralded backcourt mate bombed in a season-high 45 points as the Warriors extracted a small measure of revenge against the team that dealt them their worst loss of the season, thrashing the Dallas Mavericks 127-107.

“I give credit to my teammates,” said Thompson, who got assists from six different players on his 14 field goals. “I was really in a good flow and using my teammates to cut through the lane.”

Thompson connected on seven 3-pointers and 14 of 20 shots in all as the Warriors (42-4) turned the tables on the Mavericks, who took advantage of Curry’s absence to thump Golden State 114-91 at Dallas on Dec. 30.

This time it was the Mavericks who were short-handed, with veteran power forward Dirk Nowitzki given the night off to rest after he hit the game-winning shot Tuesday in a 92-90 road win against the Los Angeles Lakers.

“I thought we battled them hard,” said Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, whose team also was missing injured center Zaza Pachulia. “They got off to a very fast start, and we circled the wagons and fought back. We were very close a lot of the game.”

In fact, even without Nowitzki, the Mavericks (26-22) clung within 65-64 on a 3-pointer by forward Chandler Parsons with 7:35 left in the third period. Curry then tossed in consecutive threes to

ignite a 30-point flurry by the Warriors the rest of the quarter.

Another 3-pointer by Parsons, the Mavericks’ leading scorer with 23 points, had Dallas within 73-70 with 5:25 left in the third.

However, power forward Draymond Green had seven points, including a 3-pointer, in a 10-2 Warriors burst that opened a double-digit lead at 83-72 and got Golden State rolling toward a comfortable finish.

“This is a human-nature game,” Kerr said, excusing a sluggish first 2 1/2 quarters as a letdown following recent big wins over the Cleveland Cavaliers and San Antonio Spurs. “It didn’t surprise me. It happens to everybody.”

Thompson’s big night didn’t surprised his coach, either.

“You just always know he’s capable of this,” Kerr said. “What I was thrilled about tonight was his movement without the ball. All of those layups he got kind of gave him the confidence with his jumper. Not that he needs much more.”

The Warriors’ fifth consecutive win was also their 40th in a row at home and came on the anniversary of their last loss at Oracle Arena, an overtime defeat at the hands of the Chicago Bulls.

Golden State is 22-0 at home this season.

“It’s ridiculous,” Thompson said of the home streak. “I can’t believe it. It’s a lot of wins.”

Curry finished with 14 points on a night when he took only 11 shots. He added a game-high nine assists for the Warriors, who have won six in a row at home against Dallas.

Golden State recorded 33 assists, its fifth consecutive game with at least 30. The last team to achieve that feat had been the Orlando Magic in 1995.

“They’re a great passing-and-cutting team,” Carlisle said. “The threat of the outside shooting makes it so you’ve got to be out, which opens up some of the cuts.

“They hit us with too many layups.”

Five of Thompson’s 14 hoops were layups. He also used interior moves to draw several fouls, which resulted in 10 free throws, all of which he made.

Small forward Harrison Barnes (13 points) and Green (10) also scored in double figures for the Warriors, who shot 58 percent overall and hit 14 of 29 3-point attempts.

Parsons had four 3-pointers and grabbed seven rebounds for the Mavericks, who were wrapping up a three-game trip by playing a second game in two days.

Backups J.J. Barea (14 points) and Dwight Powell (11) also scored in double figures for Dallas, as did starting guards Raymond Felton and Deron Williams with 12 apiece.

The Mavericks lost despite shooting 50.6 percent from the field.

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