Field Level Media
Mar 23, 2019
Luka Doncic recorded his sixth triple-double of the season and the Dallas Mavericks exploded for 74 first-half points Saturday night in a shocking 126-91 demolition of the Golden State Warriors in Oakland, Calif.
Dirk Nowitzki bombed in five 3-pointers, while Doncic and Maxi Kleber buried four apiece as the Mavericks hit 21 shots from beyond the arc, one shy of their franchise record, and outscored Golden State 63-12 on 3s.
The loss came on the front end of a home back-to-back for the Warriors, who chose to rest Stephen Curry, Shaun Livingston and Andrew Bogut.
The 35-point margin of defeat was the largest of the season at home for Golden State, which previously had been blown out at home by Boston by 33 points, Oklahoma City by 28, the Los Angeles Lakers by 26, Milwaukee by 25 and Toronto by 20.
Nowitzki scored 10 of the game's first 16 points, helping Dallas take command immediately with a 14-2 lead.
Doncic hit his first three 3-pointers and Kleber his first two, helping the Mavericks go up by as many as 19 points in the first period.
Dallas scored 37 points in each of the first two quarters to go up 74-46 by halftime, then coasted home as Warriors coach Steve Kerr sat his top players alongside Curry with another game coming up Sunday night against Detroit.
Doncic finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, all game-highs, in 27 minutes. He also found time for three steals.
Nowitzki finished with 21 points, helping the Mavericks earn a four-game split in their season series against the Warriors with their first win at Golden State since April 2012.
Ryan Broekhoff chipped in with 17 points, Kleber 16, Trey Burke 13 and Jalen Brunson 11 for Dallas, which had lost its past 12 games at Golden State.
The Mavericks outshot the Warriors 53.0 percent to 40.0 en route to snapping a three-game losing streak.
The 35-point margin of victory was Dallas' third-largest of the season. The Mavericks had a 50-point win over Utah and a 38-pointer over Charlotte.
Kevin Durant had 25 points in 29 minutes for the Warriors, who had won four of their previous five games, with the victories coming by a total of 57 points.
Durant missed all eight of his 3-point attempts, as Golden State shot just 4-for-30 as a team.
DeMarcus Cousins had 19 points and Kevon Looney 12 for Golden State.
Starting in place of Curry on his 26th birthday, Quinn Cook had a team-high seven assists and a team-high-tying six rebounds to go with seven points.
--Field Level Media