Warriors’ Self-Camping Tend on Display Again in Tab to Mavericks-NBC Sports Bay Area & California

Fate did Warriors a favor on Wednesday night and they fumbled it.

And in the process, their first test failed at the intersection of mediocrity and breakthrough.

Warriors rolled into the American Airlines Center Wednesday for a rare “statement” game in February. They were facing Dallas Mavericks, missing five rotation players – and all four of their centers. This was not a so-called must-win, but a national TV opportunity to whisper to the rest of the NBA, they were beyond the days of passion.

It shouldn’t be. Warriors ate any Overcooked Morsel with 111-107 defeat that came with the same tone of passion that haunted them under their Stupor in December-January. Back when Stephen Curry Toted a load that was heavy enough for three-and before the arrival of certified co-closeer Jimmy Butler.

“We have to be more physical early in the game,” Gary Payton II told Dallas journalists after Kyrie Irving scored 11 of her games high 42 points in a first quarter, with Mavericks shot 65 percent from the field, including 57, 1 percent from deep.

“I just think it took us too long to start playing and really focus and lock in on performing at both ends,” said coach Steve Kerr. “We messed around with the game for too long and left us vulnerable. And of course they paid in. “

If these comments sound familiar, it’s because they are. Similar statements have been made after the 10 or such crazy losses before Jimmy.

This one represents a particularly ominous setback because the warriors lost with Butler. Because this had “before Jimmy” Vibber, though Butler played 35 minutes and ended with 21 points, a team = -High Nine Rebounds and Seven Assists.

This sets a sudden break to the budding momentum built with Golden State’s successive victories in the wake of Butler’s famous arrival and immediate influence.

It will expand from the break to stop if Warriors can’t recover Thursday in Houston and avoid going into the All-Star break with back-to-back loss. They face Rockets less than 20 hours after Curry played 37 minutes, Butler played 35 and Daymond Green worked in 32.

“It’s a tough back-to-back, and that’s what makes this loss even more frustrating,” Kerr said. “We’re going to get into Houston at.

No, this game was what could have given the anxiety that grabbed the citizens of the Dub Nation. Getting away with a win when it rightly favored could have led the fan base to believe that losses to such sub -dogs, such as Utah and Toronto and Brooklyn were old history, should not be repeated. Losses leaving players and coaches who were unable to find out how or why it happened again caught in a furious battle to continue to believe.

Still, it was Warriors fell behind 15-6 in the first four minutes, causing Kerr to call a timeout. Dallas opens the second quarter with an 8-2 race, wandering his lead to eight (40-32), and Kerr calls another timeout. Quinten Post drained a corner 3-ball 19 seconds later, but Mavericks came back with eight unanswered points for a 12-point lead. And another timeout.

“Hard start, and then we fought away in the first quarter,” Curry said. “At the beginning of the third, we lost kind of our cool, we left bad calls affecting our body language. We fought down the stretch and tried to give ourselves a chance. “

A victory would have given Warriors their first three-game victory trait in almost three months. It would have been an indicator of real progress, a milestone of kind, after several fake starts. That they succeeded with a little help from fate.

Instead, Warriors go against Houston, who has failed for the fifth time since November 15, when facing an opportunity to tighten three consecutive wins.

There are plenty of games left, but not almost enough if they can’t break this self -esteem trend.

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