Warriors defeat Dallas to clinch Western crown, NBA Finals berth
GOLDEN State Warriors secured a sixth NBA Finals berth in eight seasons after seeing off Dallas Mavericks 120110 Thursday.
Shooting guard Klay Thompson scored a game-high 32 points as the Warriors won the best-of-seven Western Conference finals 4-1.
They will now seek a first title since 2018 in June’s showdown against either the Boston Celtics or Miami Heat.
“To get back again is special for all of us,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “It’s pretty amazing. It’s so difficult to get to the finals. It’s exhausting, stressful, emotional, all that stuff.
“To be in the finals six times in eight years, it just takes an enormous amount of skill and determination and work and I couldn’t be prouder of my guys.”
Golden State won NBA crowns in 2015, 2017 and 2018 – beating the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers each time – but lost the 2016 and 2019 finals and spent the past two seasons rebuilding the roster.
“This is a blessing for us to get back here, to get back where we belong,” said Golden State’s Stephen Curry, named the Western Conference playoff Most Valuable Player (MVP).
Thompson, completing an amazing comeback story after two missed seasons and years of injury rehabilitation, made 12-of-25 shots from the floor and eightof-16 from 3-point range.
“Such a surreal feeling,” Thompson said. “I dreamt about this every day. I’m elated, but I’m still hungry. It’ll be much sweeter if we complete the mission next round.”
Andrew Wiggins scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Warriors while Draymond Green added 17 points and nine assists, reserve Jordan Poole scored 16 points and Curry added 15 and nine assists.
The Warriors have not lost a home playoff game this season, the first postseason run in their new arena after two woeful campaigns.
The dynasty continues.
It will be the sixth consecutive trip to the NBA Finals for Thompson, who missed the entire 2019-20 campaign after left knee surgery and the whole 2020-21 season with a torn Achilles tendon.
MATCHING JORDAN’S BULLS
Not since the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls won six crowns from 19911998 has a team reached six NBA Finals in eight seasons. Kerr played on the last three of those Bulls’ title squads.
The Mavericks haven’t reached the NBA Finals since winning the crown in 2011.
Slovenian star guard Luka Doncic had 28 points, nine rebounds and six assists to lead Dallas while reserve Spencer Dinwiddie added 26 points.
The Mavs upset top seed Phoenix in the second round.
Thompson scored eight points in a 12-5 run to put Golden State ahead 45-32 on the way to a 69-52 halftime lead.
Early in the third quarter, Green delivered a spectacular no-look, behindthe-back bounce pass to Thompson for a wide-open 3-pointer that gave Golden State a 74-53 lead.
“I was thinking, ‘I had better make this so it will be on the highlights later,’” Thompson said. A 15-0 run pulled Dallas within 92-84 late in the third quarter but Golden State opened the fourth with a 7-1 run and held off Dallas from there.