The Sports Xchange
Dec 15, 2017
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Klay Thompson buried three consecutive 3-pointers during a fourth-quarter flurry that finally allowed the Golden State Warriors to pull away from the Dallas Mavericks en route to a 112-97 victory Thursday night.
The Mavericks (8-21) led by as many as eight points in the first half and were still within 80-73 at the end of the third quarter before the defending champs took charge en route to their season-best eighth win in a row.
Andre Iguodala and Omri Casspi had dunks to get the Warriors rolling in the final period, before Thompson's 3-point run powered an 11-0 burst that opened a 100-83 lead with six minutes remaining.
Thompson hit all five of his 3-point attempts during a 25-point game for the Warriors (23-6), who were once again without injured Stephen Curry and Draymond Green.
Kevin Durant's 36 points were tops for Golden State, which beat Dallas for the eighth straight time overall and 10th in a row at home. Durant also had 11 rebounds and seven assists.
Casspi, starting in Green's spot, joined Durant in the double-double column with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 18 points and Harrison Barnes had 16 for the Mavericks, who had held their previous 10 opponents to an average of 97.8 points.
The Warriors, held to one 3-pointer in each of the first two quarters, finished 11-for-22 from beyond the arc. They shot 60.3 percent from the field overall.
The Mavericks shot 45.1 percent from the field and 10-for-29 on 3s.
There were nine lead changes and seven ties in the first half, which ended in a 48-all deadlock. The Mavericks had outscored the Warriors 18-6 on 3-pointers at that point.
Dallas led for most of the half, including by eight on three occasions in the second quarter.
Durant had two hoops in an 8-0 run late in the period that helped produce the halftime time.
NOTES: The Warriors ran their record on Thursday nights under Steve Kerr to 23-5. ... The Warriors improved to 8-1 when holding their opponent to fewer than 100 points. ... The Warriors, two games into a stretch of playing nine of 10 at home, get the next three days off, their first three-day break of the season. ... Mavericks C Dirk Nowitzki came within two points of his 39th career game of 20 or more points against the Warriors. His 38 are easily the most among active players. ... Dallas fell to 3-4 in December after having gone 1-7 in October and 4-10 in November. ... The Mavericks committed 12 turnovers, their sixth consecutive game with 12 or fewer.