Golden State Warriors continued their winning streak as they took a 2-0 lead against Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference finals on Friday night.
The Dubs bested Mavs by 126-117 to take a crucial lead in the series. In fact, GSW was trailing by 14 points after the half-time whistle but they were able to turn the tables in the third quarter.
GSW outscored Mavs by 25-13 in the third quarter of play and then took the final quarter by 43-32 to come up with a fine performance. The team’s talisman Steph Curry was the star of the show once again as he top-scored with 32 points.
Furthermore, Kevon Looney was at his absolute best defensively as he took 12 rebounds and also kept Luka Doncic and Co. at bay.
The team’s head coach Steve Kerr revealed his message to his players at the half-time was to develop some poise in their game. And the team lived up to Kerr’s expectations.
“I told them that if we developed some poise in the second half, the game would come to us,” Kerr said. “But I thought we were so scattered in the first half. Maybe emotionally more so than anything. Dallas came out and just punched us. We felt confident that if we [got poised], they wouldn’t make 15 3s in the second half.”
Curry, on the other hand, feels it was important for his team to keep their calm despite conceding a big lead in the first half. The talisman added they were able to buckle up defensively, which played a key role in their win.
“You didn’t want to overreact, but also we got a lot better on the ball, just trying to keep bodies on Luka,” Stephen Curry said. “Close out to the shooters that we know are hot, and then rebound the ball so that that’s our best offense.”
Looney was also delighted with his match-winning performance against the Dallas Mavericks as he was able to grab his opportunity.
“I take kind of the same approach,” Looney said. “I’m just a little bit more battle-tested. That was my first time playing on a big stage like this. I don’t know if even my teammates had the most faith in me, but they put me out there and I handled it pretty well.
The third game of the series between these two teams will be played on Sunday night.
