The Golden State Warriors knocked off the Dallas Mavericks within the group stage of the 2024 NBA Cup, which additionally marked the primary time Stephen Curry confronted Klay Thompson since his departure for Dallas within the offseason. Furthermore, Curry’s bonkers fourth quarter noticed him rating the Warriors’ final 12 factors to seal the 120-117 victory. After the sport, coach Steve Kerr shared to the press for a surreal second with Curry earlier than going out to fulfill Thompson on the court docket.
“We went over our pregame scout and the matchups,” Kerr mentioned, by way of Warriors reporter Anthony Slater on X, previously Twitter. “It was nearly surreal saying, ‘Steph, you bought Klay.’ Steph smiled.”
Warriors knock off Mavericks to open NBA Cup
Earlier than the Mavericks recreation, the Warriors gave away captain’s hats to everybody in attendance at Chase Heart, recognizing Klay Thompson’s love for crusing.
Nonetheless, each groups discovered it onerous to take management of the sport, buying and selling quarters forwards and backwards till the Chef began cooking within the fourth quarter. In the meantime, Klay scored 22 factors on 6-12 capturing from three-point land, whereas Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving mixed for 52 factors.
Likewise, Doncic performed by means of a strained groin to drop 31 factors, however he solely shot 2-10 from deep for 13-27 general capturing. Dereck Full of life returned off the bench from an damage to drop 12 factors and seize eight rebounds.
As in earlier video games, Steve Kerr went deep into his bench to search out assist for his famous person shooter, and his bench unit mixed for 42 factors in comparison with the Mavs’ 22.
Nonetheless, Buddy Hield solely shot 2-8 from three, his scorching capturing streak probably coming to an finish on Tuesday. He nonetheless had 14 factors on 6-13 general capturing.
Nonetheless, like Klay Thompson earlier than him, Hield’s worth on the ground is the specter of his capturing, permitting Stephen Curry to do harm, significantly throughout successful time.
The one drawback is Hield does not have the defensive prowess of Thompson in his prime, that means Kerr may be unable to play each Hield and Curry collectively particularly within the playoffs.
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A season of surprises
Up to now, although, the Warriors’ depth has proven up big-time for them, contributing to their 9-2 document, a shocking final result given their failure to commerce for Lauri Markkanen and Paul George within the offseason.
However, the Mavericks proceed their up-and-down season, going 5-6 and falling to the eleventh spot within the Western Convention.
It is somewhat early for followers to sound the alarm for Dallas, however they’ve to search out momentum sooner fairly than later if they do not need to get buried within the extraordinarily aggressive West.