|
 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.
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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.
NOTES: The big scoring night won't help Warriors SG Klay Thompson's
chances of making the All-Star team. The coaches' ballots for
reserves were due Tuesday. ... The NBA announced Wednesday that San
Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich will coach the West team in the
All-Star Game because the coach with the best record, Golden State's
Steve Kerr, earned the honor last year and thus is ineligible. The
Warriors had hoped Luke Walton, who served as interim coach for 43
games (39-4 record) while Kerr recovered from back surgery, would
get the nod, but the NBA ruled that those wins go on Kerr's record,
not Walton's. ... Mavericks PF Dwight Powell was selected to
participate in the Rising Stars Challenge on All-Star weekend. The
second-year pro, a native of Canada, was named to the World Team.
... The Warriors presented the game ball to rookie PF Kevon Looney,
who recorded his first basket of the season on a jumper with 2:15 to
go.
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