(Photo : Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
The Golden State Warriors are now one win away from being crowned as Western Conference champions by taking the 3-0 lead in the best of seven series against the Dallas Mavericks.
The Golden State Warriors are now one win away from being crowned as Western Conference champions by taking the 3-0 lead in the best of seven series against the Dallas Mavericks, with a 109-100 victory on Sunday night's Game 3 at the American Airlines Center.
The loss also cut the Mavs' five-game playoff winning streak at home.
No team in NBA history has ever come back from such a series deficit, but Dallas superstar Luka Doncic still displays his never say die spirit.
"It's not over yet, but it's not going to be easy," Doncic said after the Game 3 loss. "The Warriors are not going to give you anything easy."
The Slovenian guard believes that caused his team's defeat in the crucial game was the second-chance points of the Warriors.
Dallas gave up 14 offensive rebounds and got outscored by a 12-point margin in the paint.
"THAT IS A POSTER!" pic.twitter.com/nkwgLi0KPk
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) May 23, 2022
Warriors Proving They Are The Team To Beat
Doncic led the Mavericks with 40 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, and two blocks in the defeat, cementing his place in Mavericks' history, as per a report from Fan Nation. With eight 40-point games, the Slovenian star eclipsed Dirk Nowitzki for the most in Dallas postseason history.
Doncic, who is only 23 years old, also equaled LeBron James (8) for the most 40-point playoff games before turning 25.
Meanwhile, Curry led Golden State with 31 points and 11 assists. Curry's assist totals were huge as Dallas aggressively doubled him all night - allowing him to feed his teammates' wide-open looks the entire game, according to SB Nation.
Game 2's star Kevon Looney continues to dominate the glass as he led the team with 12 rebounds, while Draymond Green provided his usual brand of superb defense.
In his media conferences during the regular season, Warriors superstar Klay Thompson often claimed that Golden State was the team to beat this season. With their recent wins, it seems that he is right.
Klay still believes the Dubs are the favorites to win the NBA Finals 😤 pic.twitter.com/ZIIIx9SuPd
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) May 23, 2022
Breaking The Rhythm
The Warriors success this season was due to their improved defense. Per The Athletic, Head Coach Steve Kerr took notice that the NBA game has become "so rythmic and pattern-oriented" and players do the "same stuff. "
"You go from one game to the next and everyone is running high screen-and-roll, high pins, all the same stuff. You see these patterns. So to be able to mix it up is important. There is so much shooting, that it's hard to guard everyone man-to-man and still take teams out of their rhythm," he said.
Kerr also said that blitzes are common among teams. It becomes more difficult to disrupt a rhythm after they have been accustomed to playing against particular challenges. So the Warriors decided to try extra things to break the pattern.
Draymond Green acknowledged that this is the most defense adjustments the Warriors have ever done in games against the Mavericks.
Dallas Head Coach Jason Kidd recently expressed his admiration for the Warriors' ability to switch up systems without using timeouts. However, his team still will also make all necessary adjustments to avoid being swept by the Golden State.
"This is huge for our franchise. This isn't the end, this is just the beginning. We'll be ready to go for Game 4," Kidd said.
The series remains in Dallas on Tuesday, May 24 at 8:00 in the evening.
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