Stephen Curry y Luka Doncic They were face to face once more and, unlike what happened last Thursday when Golden State Warriors had crushed Dallas Mavericks by 147-116, this time the locals celebrated on a brilliant night for the show. Dallas won 134-132 in an entertaining game from start to finish and with two of the NBA’s top stars playing at their best: Curry actually came close to matching his scoring and 3-point record in a game, but that wasn’t enough to win.
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Lots of points, triples from every possible place and shape, spectacular assists and even an ending with some drama had this match: more could not be asked, remaining up to expectations in a clash between two similar stars. Dallas won it, who had a better performance of the “secondary”, who took better advantage of the key moments of the match, who was in front for almost the entire night and who I had a greater need to obtain this victory after having lost six of their seven previous games.
Maxi Kleber’s CLUTCH triple secures the @dallasmavs THRILLING win! #MFFL pic.twitter.com/ezKG6EiVN7
– NBA (@NBA) February 7, 2021
Nevertheless, what was done by Stephen Curry cannot be forgotten. The Warriors franchise player performed a colossal task in attack, scoring 57 points in 37 minutes and showing, once again, that all your scoring ability is intact and that when it is on a roll there is no way to stop it. Dallas put up a tough defense on him, and still Steph was dispatched with an 11-19 on 3s. in the 16th game of his career in which he scores at least a dozen shots from the perimeter. With 19-31 in field goals and with 5 assists, Curry fell 5 points away from equaling his scoring record of 62 points. which he dialed a few weeks ago.
In Steph’s 37 minutes, the Warriors scored seven more points than the Mavericks. There was also positive balance for Kent Bazemore, who appeared from the bench with 20 points in 23 minutes showing off in the first quarter, and for a Draymond Green who looked little at the rim (2 points with 0-2 from the field) but who did everything: 15 assists, 6 rebounds, 6 steals and 4 blocks.
Juan Toscano-Anderson started again and had 34 minutes of action, although it was far from what occurred on Thursday: 2 points (1-1 from the field), 2 steals, 2 assists and 10 rebounds this time. Andrew Wiggins finished with 22 points and Kelly Oubre, who had been the hero of the Warriors with 40 points in the previous victory, this time he scored 14 shooting 5-16 from the field.
On the winning side, as we mentioned, the best was undoubtedly Luka Doncic. The Slovenian this time did not reach the triple-double, but he still made one of his best performances of the season for how well he managed his team and for what important that it was at the end of the game, hitting triples and assisting. Ended with 42 points (equaled his career high), 11 assists and 7 rebounds in 38 minutes and shot 12-23 from the field with 7-12 in triples, being close to his personal record of triples scored (8).
“He’s an amazing player, he changed this game, and it’s always fun to play against him.” @ luka7doncic (career high-tying 42 points in the @dallasmavs win) on dueling with @StephenCurry30 (57 points). pic.twitter.com/Si2hdzgTvt
– NBA (@NBA) February 7, 2021
The cast lived up to Rick Carlisle’s, who shot 21-47 in triples. Kristaps Porzingis contributed 18 points and 10 rebounds, Maxi Kleber finished with 16 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and the triple winner in the end, Josh Richardson added 17 points, Tim Hardaway Jr. 11 (with 3-15 from field) and Dorian Finney-Smith 10 others.
Now Dallas regained some ground in the Western Conference with its 10-14 record, although it remains second to last. Golden State is eighth, with a record of 12 wins and 11 losses. The Warriors’ next game will be on the road against the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas will play at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Below, the comments of the game live
First quarter:
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The first minutes of the game seemed the same story from Thursday but with different colors. The Mavericks were the ones who ran from one end of the court to the other and scored 3s with ease under Doncic’s guidance, enough for an 18-2 lead in just five minutes of action. The counterattack recipe was fully effective for those led by Rick Carlisle.
That change of speed is nice 💯
🌟 RT TO VOTE 🌟 @ luka7doncic | #NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/WvWb0HsaFQ
– Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) February 7, 2021
A four-point play by Curry woke up Golden State and Doncic’s departure to rest made Dallas stop adding: thus the Warriors cut the difference to 18-9 by the time the Slovenian returned and then to 25-21 thanks to a good entry of Kent Bazemore. The visitors had stopped wandering and allowing transitional attacks and thus settled in.
Contact on the shot? No problem.@StephenCurry30 || #NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/CP2zJhV3Mf
– Golden State Warriors (@warriors) February 7, 2021
The final two minutes kept the level of vertigo and intensity high: Curry and Bazemore scored more triples, but so did Josh Richardson as Doncic continued to find his teammates to define in the paint. The Mavericks are leading 35-31 with 11 points, 4 assists and 4 rebounds from Doncic and are 5-10 on 3s. Golden State is 5-11 on 3s, with 12 points from Bazemore off the bench and 11 from Curry.
Second bedroom:
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We said that the match was unmissable and is meeting all expectations. The Mavericks win 72-64 after a first half in which both teams were around 50% shooting from the field.
Dallas got off to a better start again, with a 10-5 run and Doncic on fire while Curry rested. With Steph out, Dallas’ lead stretched to 10 points, but when Curry came back he began to drop a triple behind the other. The Warriors man made five triples in less than six minutes, finished the first half with 30 points and 7-10 shooting from the perimeter and he is the main reason why there is still a game. Golden State needs more from Wiggins, who only played 8 minutes due to his three fouls and only added 4 points.
SEVEN first-half threes Stephen Curry 💦#NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/OrqWO1mlcP
– Golden State Warriors (@warriors) February 7, 2021
For their part, the Mavericks are also fine from the outside, with 9-19 in triples, and Luka Doncic is also showing off with 21 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds, complicating Golden State every time he attacks the paint to define on his own or find a partner. Kristaps Porzingis already has 11 points, Josh Richardson 9 and both Maxi Kleber and Dorian Finney-Smith had 8 each.
Move through 𝓓𝓪𝓵𝓵𝓪𝓼 with the Eurostep
🌟 RETWEET TO VOTE 🌟@ luka7doncic | #NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/eaObXhm2Ig
– Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) February 7, 2021
Third quarter:
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The two teams keep putting on a wonderful show with Steph Curry as the lead actor. Dallas now leads 106-101 after Golden State led 37-34 in the third period, but the Mavericks know they have to continue to watch out for SC30. The Chef scored 16 points in the third period and has already been 46 in the game: he has a record of 10-17 in triples and he even cheered up from midfield with success.
Stephen Curry. BANG ‼️#NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/UoEUKR03e0
– Golden State Warriors (@warriors) February 7, 2021
Dallas’ defense is totally focused on Curry, but even if they try to deny him the triple, they end up leaving holes for Curry to assist his teammates when he cannot add on his own. Fortunately for the Mavericks, Luka Doncic is also doing his job and has 31 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds and Luka’s teammates, such as Richardson and Kleber, continue to shoot their opportunities from the perimeter. Golden State had led 96-95 after 3-pointers by Curry and Wiggins, but Dallas closed with an 11-5 run in the final four minutes.
Last room:
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Once again in the game it was noticed again that one of the figures was not on the court: with Curry resting and also without Draymond Green, the Warriors allowed a 7-2 run from Dallas in the opening three minutes of the fourth quarter and thus the advantage of the Mavericks was made of 10 points. Beyond the fact that Wiggins began to appear in the game and Golden State got a little closer, when Steph re-entered the game the difference was still 10 points away.
There the blow was given by Golden State: not directly with many points from Curry, but with the gravitation of 30 on offense. They narrowed the difference to three points, but then Doncic returned it to eight with his sixth triple of the game. If they thought that the Slovenian had put the game in his pocket with that shot, they were wrong: the visitors continued to fight and entered the final two minutes down by a very small margin: 128-124.
BANG!!
🌟 RETWEET TO VOTE FOR LUKA 🌟 @ luka7doncic | #NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/d8Ct0vMpGi
– Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) February 7, 2021
Another triple from Luka seemed to finally define everything with 131-124, but Curry answered quickly with another triple and a tremendous 2 + 1 action that put the game on hold, amid a couple of controversial arbitration rulings that favored both teams.
when Steph makes Mike Breen say BANG > https://t.co/QpnKYGQYlJ pic.twitter.com/791Gtpq3Fm
– Golden State Warriors (@warriors) February 7, 2021
The ball was from Dallas with 28 seconds left and a 131-130 lead for the Mavericks. Golden State bet on defending with high pressure and not sending Dallas to the free throw line. And Maxi Kleber, wide open from a corner, put the finishing touch to the game with a triple assisted by Doncic, on whom all the Warriors defense had gone. Then Damion Lee barely made up the result.
The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the NBA or its organizations.
