Game 2 of the NBA Western Conference Finals was a great showing of championship DNA and the composure that come with the experience of being in this position 5 times before.
After being down 19 points in the first half, Golden state went on to erase their deficit in the second half, with massive third and fourth quarter performances. The game started with Dallas dominance as they shot the lights out of the Chase Center in the first half hitting 15/27 threes. Luka alone had 18 in the first quarter and Jaylen Brunson had 20 at the half, missing only one of his 5 three point attempts in that period. Reggie Bullock was also cooking, making himself and Brunson look like the real splash brothers. Dallas as a team barely missed during the half hitting a staggering 15/27 three point attempts. Steph Curry was the only Warrior showing signs of life and he managed to keep the Dallas lead to 14 at half time.
However, like most good things they come to an end and Dallas’ shooting was no exception. Luka was able to stay consistent on offence ending the game with 42 going 12/23 from the field. On the other hand, the ‘others’ couldn’t sustain the first half attack. The threes didn’t continue to drop at a high rate for Dallas and Golden State were able to capitalise. Despite having Draymond Green in foul trouble for the whole second half the Warriors offence and defence remained steady the whole time, never too high and never too low, even when they were down. They just continued to get good looks on the offensive end, and get out in transition when they got their stops on defence. This allowed them to close the lead by the end of the third and take a lead early in the fourth with Otto Porter Jr and Jordan Poole playing big fourth quarter minutes. Poole had another big night showing why he has been such a massive player for the Warriors this season, he had 23 on 7/10 shooting. Klay had a quiet 15 with all his points coming in the second half while Kevon Looney may have played his best ever play off game. Looney put up a career high 21 points on 10/14 shooting, coming up huge for the Warriors. In my opinion, he was the tone setter for the warriors, his offence was ever present and consistent and he played great defence for the second game in a row against this iso heavy Dallas team.
The biggest player for the Warriors and the reason they won was the best point guard in the league, the guy that kept them alive in the first half and then went on to close the game in the fourth quarter. This was probably Steph’s best play off game this year. His shooting has been inconsistent since passing Reggie Miller for the most threes all time. He then picked up a foot injury at the end of the regular season which lead to him starting the playoffs on the bench for the Warriors as they eased him back into the rotation. But you wouldn’t have known any of that if you saw the performance he had tonight. He knocked down 5 of the Warriors 8 threes in the 1st half keeping the Mavericks in arms reach. Curry proceeded to out duel Luka Doncic in the 2nd half and then hit numerous shots in the 4th to put the Mavericks to bed.
Now Dallas have been here before, down 0-2 heading back home, role players tend to play better at home and they have a team mainly constructed of 3&D role players so they should win at least one game in Dallas but one win won’t be enough. After seeing how well most of those role players played tonight you can’t help but think this result might have a mental impact on Dallas as they gave Golden state their best shot, Brunson with 31 & Bullock with 21, only for the Warriors to shrug it off. We’ll have to see how the series unfolds. Right now Golden State remain unbeaten at home (8-0) despite a great game from the Mavericks and they look ready for another finals appearance.
