NBA scores: Kyrie Irving leads Mavericks past Steph Curry, Warriors

For the third time in so many games since acquiring Jimmy Butler, the Golden State Warriors fell afterwards with double digits and tried a comeback in the second half. But Wednesday night against Dallas MavericksIt looks like they just flew a little too close to the sun.

Dubs started again slowly. Quinten Post was connected to the starting lineup to give Golden State a big look at a Mavericks team that did not lack Anthony Davis, but also PJ Washington, Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II. It didn’t really work. The wrongdoing was rapid pace, and thanks to a few triangles from Klay Thompson (one of which was knocked in) Dallas jumped out to a 15-6 lead.

Things got better from there, and it was definitely remarkable how much better warriors look with curry on the bench than they did last week. But they couldn’t quite close the gap. Moses Moody scored on both halves of a two-for-one that drew Warriors to within a time at the end of the first quarter. Kyrie Irving had scored 11 of Dallas ’32 points, causing Steve Kerr to notice in the interview in the game, “I have tried to find out (how to brake Irving) for about 10 years.”

The answer will have to wait because Irving thoroughly took over. But first, Klay did. Thompson scored all of Dallas’ eight points in an 8-2 race to start the second quarter, led to an early Warriors hourlyout. Kerr would call another timeout just four minutes in with the deficit now 12 points. Timeout did a little as the offense simply couldn’t find one thing, and the Dallas lead grew to 14.

But the offense, which had been so slurred with turnover and unanswered layups galore, had a furious quarter, highlighted by stealing, offensive rebounds and a few moments of Steph Curry Brilliance. It ended up with Butler seizing an offensive rebound and finding Daymondt Green for a set-up that set aside a 15-3 race, leaving Warriors afterwards only 57-56 at the break.

Another bad start to a quarter was waiting for the Golden State when Dallas scored the first six points in the quarter, the sixth on a technical free throw after Kerr had to be held back. Warriors struggled to get back into it before Irving fully overfall, drained triple on three consecutive belongings to push the lead to 15 points. However, Dubs had overcome such deficits in each of their last two matches, so they were unclear. They needed and fought, and although they couldn’t fully eliminate the lead, it was just a five-point deficit that went into the fourth quarter.

This deficit ballooned back to 11 points just two minutes inside. Butler did good things, but Irving did even better things. It remained near the double-digit brand for a while, before a green three-point game and a curry-tripled Warriors drew within four points by about five minutes left. With only 3:31 left, drained Curry a three to give Golden State a 102-101 benefit and their first lead since the opening minutes.

But Irving, who gave all Warrior fans flashbacks, simply wouldn’t be beaten. Dallas got the lead again when the judges strangely awarded Kyrie with three free kicks on a rip-through, and he made all three. After Curry tied it, Irving marched down the field and drained three more. Then Warriors forced a turnover and scored and cut the deficit to one, but they couldn’t get over that hump. Moody missed a go-front three on a minute’s brand, and after another stop, Curry was stepped with 37.3 seconds left. But he missed the other and left the game tied.

Dallas scored at the front end of the two-for-one, where Nnaji Marshall sinked a float. And then the biggest game in the game: Butler drove to hope and drained a float, but Irving slipped his feet with him and took the charge in the process. Warriors challenged the invitation to no avail; Instead of a potential walk-forward to three-point games, the ball was handed over to Dallas with 17.6 seconds and a two-point lead. Warriors stepped Max Christie with 10.4 seconds and he made both free kicks. Down to belongings and missing any timeouts, Brandin Podziemski tried a Hail Mary -in -depth, knowing that it was their only hope. It was stolen and the buzzer wrong, with Dallas won 111-107.

The game was mostly defined by the Golden State’s inability to make layups and triangles and by Irving’s brilliance. Kyrie gave a despairing Dalla’s fanbase something to cheer over, ending with 42 points on 15-for-25 shooting, including shooting 7-for-10 from three-point reach. It was a pure wizard, with exquisite ball handling and a host of impossible shots that somehow went through.

Thompson added 17 points for Dallas, and while shooting only 6-for-19, all his brands seemed timely.

Curry pace Warriors with 25 points, but shot only 9-for-23 from the field. Butler had 21 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, though he wasn’t quite able to take over the way he had in his first two matches with the team. As a team, Dubs shot only 28.6% on triangles compared to 41.7% for mavericks.

However, there is no time to mop. Warriors are back in action Thursday night when traveling a few hours south to take the Houston Rockets in their last match before the All-Star break.