Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals was a hotly contested game that brought out the fire in both the Golden State Warriors and Dallas Mavericks.
Superstars Luka Doncic and Steph Curry had quite the duel:
- Steph Curry: 31 points, five rebounds, 11 assists
- Luka Doncic: 40 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, one steal, two blocks
The game came down to supporting casts though, as some players rose up while other big performers from Game 2 came up short. Reggie Bullock, who scored 21 points on 6 of 10 shooting from the three-point line the other day, finished with no points and missed all 10 of his field goal attempts.
Spencer Dinwiddie, on the other hand, upped his performance from four points in Game 2 to become the Mavericks’ second-highest scorer in Game 3 with 26 points while shooting 7 of 13 from the field. Jalen Brunson also contributed 20 points, five rebounds and three assists.
Jordan Poole, who outscored the Mavericks’ bench on his own in Game 2, had a much quieter Game 3 with just 10 points. Otto Porter Jr. didn’t get to see much game time due to a foot injury, so he only got to see seven minutes of game time on the way to two points and one rebound. Klay Thompson also contributed 19 points, seven rebounds and three assists for the Warriors, but struggled from the field shooting 6 of 18.
The hero of the game for the Warriors ended up being Andrew Wiggins, who finished with 27 points, 11 rebounds and three assists and a game-high plus/minus of +22. He scored 10 of those points in the fourth quarter and made pivotal plays that helped keep momentum on the Warriors’ side. After the Mavericks managed to cut the deficit to 91-83, Wiggins scored seven of the next nine points for Golden State, including a monster jam over Luka Doncic that he’ll remember for the rest of his career.
I’d like to point out that the play was first inexplicably called a charge, but Steve Kerr wisely used his challenge for it and got the call overturned. Wiggins made another two dunks and all three of his free throws after getting fouled from beyond the arc during that run.
Wiggins deserves a lot of credit for how hard he played in Game 3, especially since there’s often jokes these days about his workman-like consistency. He had 16 points, five rebounds and five assists in Game 2, but turned it up a notch to give Golden State a crucial 3-0 lead today. I’ve written previously about how added aggression from Wiggins is really helping the Warriors out, and today showed how important he can be to a team’s championship aspirations. I still think it’s unfair that Golden State have the Canadian forward available as a third or fourth option on offense on most nights, and he kicked ass today.
Take a bow, Andrew. You earned all the praise you’ve gotten from Steph and everyone else.
