Wiggins, Looney lift Warriors
Behind a fast start from Andrew Wiggins and Kevon Looney, the Golden State Warriors ran away with Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference finals against the Dallas Mavericks and never looked back.
After the Mavericks were able to cut the lead to nine before halftime Wednesday, the Warriors opened the second half with a furious 10-2 run behind two haymaker triples from Steph Curry. Golden State’s fiery third quarter helped extend their advantage to 19 points before the start of the fourth quarter. Golden State added 10 straight unanswered points to start the final period.
Although Curry led Golden State in scoring with 21 points on 7 of 16 shooting from the floor, six other members of the Warriors tallied double-figures in scoring on the way to a dominant 112-87.
Along with a collective offensive performance, Golden State’s defense stepped up, limiting Dallas to 87 points on a cold 36% from the field and 22.9% from beyond the arc. Three main takeaways:
While Andrew Wiggins has helped the Warriors on the glass and on the defensive end throughout the playoffs, he played a key role in the Warriors’ run to a blowout on Wednesday against the Mavericks.
Along with playing relentless defense on Doncic, Wiggins helped fuel Golden State’s offense with a flurry of timely buckets. The first-time All-Star tallied 19 points on 8 of 17 shooting from the floor with five boards and three assists in 35 minutes.
While Curry and Klay Thompson started cold from deep, Wiggins heated up from long distance, drilling three triples from beyond the arc in the first half. The trio of 3-pointers from Wiggins was his high from the Warriors’ current playoff run.
After a red-hot run throughout the postseason, Luka Doncic was uncharacteristically cold against the Warriors in Game 1 on Wednesday. Smothering defense led by Wiggins and Draymond Green appeared to bother Doncic and the Mavs’ offensive plans in Game 1.
The Mavericks star guard notched a playoff-low 20 points on 6 of 18 shooting from the floor with seven boards and four assists in 34 minutes. The 23-year-old was cold from beyond the arc, hitting three 3s on 10 attempts from deep.
Doncic’s 20 points was his lowest mark since March 21 against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
After a heroic 22-rebound effort to help the Warriors eliminate the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 6 of their semifinals series, Looney doubled-down in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.
Instead of going small, Steve Kerr opted to start Looney in back-to-back playoff contests, and it paid off. The Golden State big recorded 10 points on a perfect 5 of 5 shooting from the field with five boards, four assists and two blocks in 28 minutes. Looney, Curry and Green helped the Warriors dominate the rebound battle 51-35.
As Golden State’s playoff rotation gets tighter, Looney was one of seven players to record over 20 minutes of playing time against the Mavericks in Game 1. Following two strong performances in the starting lineup, it looks like Looney has cemented his spot in the postseason rotation going forward.