Klay Thompson, Warriors close out Mavs, seal Finals bid
Send a link to a friend
[May 27, 2022] The
Golden State Warriors will be headed down a familiar path next week.
And now they've shown the up-and-coming Dallas Mavericks the road.
Klay Thompson matched his season playoff-high with 32 points as the
Warriors captured the Western Conference crown and earned their
sixth trip to the NBA Finals in the last eight years with a 120-110
victory over the Mavericks in Game 5 on Thursday night in San
Francisco.
The 2015, 2017 and 2018 NBA champs thus earned the right to go for
another title in the best-of-seven NBA Finals, which will open in
San Francisco on June 2.
Kevon Looney dominated the boards with a game-high 18 rebounds to
help the Warriors, in their second opportunity, close out the
Mavericks with a 4-1 triumph in the best-of-seven Western Conference
finals.
"It was a helluva series," assured Warriors coach Steve Kerr, whose
teams have not lost a playoff series to a Western foe since he took
over in 2015. "We had to battle like crazy, and we're thrilled to
have won."
Golden State's Andrew Wiggins chipped in with 18 points, Draymond
Green 17, Jordan Poole 16 and series Most Valuable Player Stephen
Curry 15 in a balanced effort.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/May/27/images/ads/current/culligan_sda_SFARM_2022.png)
"It's pretty amazing," Kerr gushed. "It's so difficult to get to the
Finals. It's frankly exhausting, stressful, emotions, physically
tiring ... all of that.
"For our team, our guys, especially the core group (of Thompson,
Green, Curry and Andre Iguodala) to be a part of that six times in
eight years ... I don't know what to say. It just takes an enormous
amount of skill and determination and work, and I couldn't be
prouder of our guys."
Luka Doncic had 28 points and Spencer Dinwiddie 26 for the
Mavericks, who used a 15-0 run late in the third quarter to give
themselves a chance after falling behind by as many as 25 points.
Poole ended the flurry and closed the third period with a layup that
gave Golden State a 94-84 lead. When Wiggins and Green opened the
final quarter with consecutive hoops, the Warriors began printing
tickets to their first NBA Finals appearance since a loss to the
Toronto Raptors in 2019.
"Unfortunately, we didn't play our best game, and the season ended,"
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. "We tip our hat to Golden State,
but we accomplished a lot. It doesn't mean we had a bad season. We
just had a bad night.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/May/27/images/ads/current/fcs_funeral_lda_border_04029022.png)
[to top of second column] |
![](../images/052722PIX/sports15.jpg)
Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) drives to the basket against
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) during the first
half during game five of the 2022 western conference finals at Chase
Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
![](../images/ads/current/graue_lda_2021.gif)
"It means a lot (just to get to this point),
especially with where we've been in the past. We'd be on our second
vacation by now. This is just the start of an era."
Thompson, who blew out his knee in the 2019 Raptors series and
missed the entire 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, bombed in eight of
his 16 3-point attempts and shot 12-for-25 overall in nearly
doubling his previous high in the series, which had been 19 in Game
3.
He nearly cried in an on-court interview with TNT after the win.
"I'm just so happy to be back," he declared. "I'm so thankful for
this team. These guys carried us to an incredible start. Then me
coming back in there ...
"I can't believe we're back (in the Finals). It's crazy. I'm going
to enjoy it tonight. Wow, we still have four more (wins) to go. I'm
going to soak this in tonight."
Looney's rebound total included seven at the offensive end, helping
Golden State to a commanding 51-34 edge overall and a 14-6 advantage
in offensive boards. He also found time for 10 points, his second
double-double of the series.
Wiggins also recorded a double-double with 10 rebounds to complement
his 18 points, while Curry collected nine assists to go with his 15
points. Green had nine assists and six rebounds to complement his
2022 postseason-high point total.
With Green hitting six of his seven shots, Poole six of his eight
and Looney five of his eight, the Warriors outshot the Mavericks
51.1 percent to 45.1 percent.
Dallas had the edge in 3-point scoring, thanks in large part to
Dinwiddie's 5-for-7 success from beyond the arc. The Mavericks shot
17-for-42 on 3-point tries, outscoring Golden State 51-42 from deep.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/May/27/images/ads/current/dare_sda_PROM_2022.png)
Doncic was harassed into just 10-for-28 shooting
overall and 3-for-13 on 3-point attempts en route to his team-high
point total. He also had team-highs in rebounds with nine and
assists with six.
"We can all agree this wasn't his best game," Kidd said. "This is a
great lesson for him. We need him to go big a lot of nights just to
give us a chance. Unfortunately, the shots didn't fall for him
tonight."
Dorian Finney-Smith had 13 points and Jalen Brunson 10 for Dallas,
which lost all three games at Golden State in the series.
--Field Level Media
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |