The Golden State Warriors love to share the ball. There’s no doubt about that. They enjoy getting other people involved, which is why they are often so prone to turnovers. They absolutely love to play flashy and make careless plays that will either get a crowd to erupt, or make both the crowd and coach Steve Kerr’s hair fall out. They had 15 turnovers in Game 1, which led to 18 points for their opponents, but it didn’t matter.
The Dallas Mavericks, who had gone 3-1 against the Warriors in the regular season, got a taste of that in Game 1 of the 2022 Western Conference Finals, after seeing seven Golden State players score in double digits, with five of them shooting over 50%.
The Dubs were led in scoring by Steph Curry, who finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block in a very well-rounded game. He achieved this while sitting out the entire fourth quarter. Though the Mavericks have an unguardable star in Luka Doncic, they also got a quick reminder that the Warriors have a star in Curry that will wear your defense out.
Although no one had a crazy scoring night in the 112-87 blowout, the Warriors again got strong performances from multiple people. Andrew Wiggins, for example, had 19 points, five rebounds, three assists, a steal, and a block along with a game-best plus/minus of +28. He had a team-high 15 points on 6 of 8 shooting at halftime while also spending a fair bit of time shadowing Doncic.
Klay Thompson, who started the game by shooting a dismal 0 for 4 from the field, got it going in the second half, where he made 7 of 9 shots en-route to 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and two blocks – including one on Spencer Dinwiddie that pissed him off so much that it earned him a technical foul.
The rest of the Warriors starters got in on the action too, with Draymond Green finishing with 10 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. Kevon Looney, the Warriors’ Game 6 hero against the Grizzlies, shot a perfect 5 of 5 on the way to 10 points, 5 rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
Jordan Poole had a good contribution off the bench again with 19 points on 8 of 12 shooting, while Otto Porter Jr. also added 10 points and six rebounds while making 5 of 7 shots.
Every single Warriors starter had at least three assists and a block, further showing how much effort they put forth on both ends of the floor. The Warriors also out rebounded the Mavericks 51-35, which is going to be a key stat to watch throughout this entire series. Both teams are similarly undersized and love taking threes, so such a huge rebounding disparity does not bode well for Dallas.
