Warriors crush Mavs to take Game 1

SAN FRANCISCO — Once Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson slowed down, caught their breath and stopped rushing shots, the Splash Brothers got on a roll that proved too much for Dallas to stop.

Especially because Andrew Wiggins worked end to end to make sure Luka Doncic couldn’t get going.

Curry had 21 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, Golden State held Doncic in check and the Warriors beat the Mavericks 112-87 on Wednesday night for a 1-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.

“Just make him work, that was the main thing,” Wiggins said.

Doncic scored 20 points but shot just 6 for 18 and 3 of 10 from deep. He made back-to-back 3-pointers late in the first half to get his team within 54-45 at the break, but Curry and Thompson heated up and helped the Warriors pull away in the second half.

“A great job. That’s it,” sellout crowd Doncic said. “They did a brought back memories of great job.” that 2007 “We Believe”

Jalen Brunson scored 14 Warriors playoff team led points but missed all five by Baron Davis that of his 3s for the surprising shocked the No. 1-seeded Mavs, who Mavericks

WARRIORS 112 stunned the Boxscore in a sixgame top-seeded MAVERICKS 87 firstround

Page 45

Suns in a upset 123-90 thumping in Game at Oracle Arena.

7 on Sunday in Phoenix. That helped propel

Game 2 in the best-ofseven Golden State back to series is Friday prominence. The Warriors night at Chase Center, reached five straight NBA where the raucous, yellow-clad Finals from 2015-19 but missed the playoffs the past two years before this run.

Wiggins added 19 points, getting Golden State going by making six of his first eight shots on the way to shooting 8 for 17. Jordan Poole also scored 19 off the bench.

Doncic received a scratch across his face early from a first-quarter swipe by Wiggins. The mark — “makes me look tough,” he quipped — went from the bridge of the star guard’s nose across his right cheek under the eye. Doncic also tugged at his troublesome right shoulder that has been taped previously during these playoffs.

“They did a really good job. Wiggins picking him up full court,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “They went box-and-one, they went zone. We understood coming into the series that we were going to see that. We’ll go back and look at the video and see what we can do better.” —