The Dallas Mavericks used a 33-8 run over the final 10 minutes of the fourth quarter to steal a 107-101 win on the road against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night. The Warriors built a 93-74 lead at the start the fourth quarter, and looked in great position to pull away as Stephen Curry surpassed the double-double mark with a 27-point, 10-assist performance. But the Mavericks stormed from behind to secure the win in large part because of the strong fourth-quarter performances from Luka Doncic and Spencer Dinwiddie.
Dinwiddie specifically showed exactly why the Mavericks traded for him in the deal that sent Kristaps Porzingis to the Washington Wizards and also brought Davis Bertans to Dallas. While Doncic spent the first half of the fourth quarter on the bench, Dinwiddie orchestrated Dallas’ offense, scoring 10 of his 24 points in the final frame.
“He’s amazing with the ball, he can do a lot of things,” Doncic said. “I remember in Brooklyn — you can see he’s a baller, that’s how I’m going to describe him.”
By the time Doncic was set to check back in to the game with five and a half minutes left, Golden State’s lead was cut from 21 points to just four. While Dinwiddie got Dallas to within striking distance, Doncic finished off the Warriors, scoring the Mavericks’ final seven points to finish with 34 points and 11 rebounds.
“He’s a very good player, he understands how to win,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said after the game. “I thought he did a great job organizing us on the floor, getting guys in certain spots to be able to run the offense. Attacking, getting to the rim, and also being able to shoot the 3. … We’re really happy to have him, and he’s playing at a high level for us right now.”
Dinwiddie’s ability to provide playmaking in the second unit has been something the Mavericks have sorely missed prior to trading for him. He can create for himself and get teammates open looks, giving Dallas a solid playmaker when Doncic and/or Jalen Brunson goes to the bench. But Sunday night Kidd opted to go with a closing lineup that featured all three of his top guards, and it yielded positive results. All three players were sharing the ball, and it forced Golden State’s defense to stay honest with three playmakers on the floor. It’s something Kidd said we could see a bit more of going forward with Dallas.
“We’ll probably use it a lot, but I also want to make sure that we always have two ball-handlers out there,” Kidd said. “Sometimes we get trapped in having all three of those guys out there, and they’re playing long stretches and then we’re going to leave only one out there. So we’re going to talk about that as a staff and we’ll talk about that with those three in how we can be better.”
It was a crucial win in the standings for Dallas, which now pulls ahead by a half game over the Denver Nuggets for the fifth spot in the Western Conference. For the Warriors, the loss closes the gap between them and the third-placed Memphis Grizzlies, who have been on a tear recently. Golden State now holds the No. 2 spot in the West by a slim 1.5-game lead, and drops to 5-5 in its past 10 games.
