Photo credit: nba.com

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Warriors did not get off to a good start Thursday evening at Oracle Arena against the Dallas Mavericks as they were outscored 33-23 in the first quarter. They were not playing defense nor were they scoring on offense, and the Mavericks raced out to an early 10-point lead.

The Warriors could not gain ground as they trailed by nine, 44-35, at one point. Then, veteran center David West sparked a 10-2 run to cut the deficit to one, 46-45. The two teams traded leads the rest of the way, and the first half was tied at 60.

The Mavericks took nine more shots in the half, but were held to just 46% from the floor. The Warriors shot 57.5% from the floor but made only four three-pointers in 13 attempts.

Draymond Green and Klay Thompson each hit a three-pointer to start the third quarter, but the Mavericks went on a 10-0 run to take a 70-66 lead. The Warriors continued to commit a lot of turnovers, and at one point in the game, they had committed 11, which allowed Dallas to score 17 points.

About halfway through the quarter, the Warriors apparently decided to play quality basketball as their defense improved and their offense clicked. Steph Curry and Kevin Durant led the Warrior attack, and they were able to build an eight-point lead, 93-86, at the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Warriors’ bench led by Green, David West, Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala, shut down the Mavericks’ offense as they broke the game open. Curry and Durant sat out during the final moments of the game. Thompson made a couple of key buckets, but was taken out with less than six minutes to play.

The Warriors defeated the Mavericks by a score of 121-103.

Game notes and Stats: With the win, the Warriors improved to 42-13 and the Mavericks’ record dropped to 17-38.

Former Warrior, Harrison Barnes, did not play for Dallas as he is recovering from an ankle injury.

The Warriors’ Big Four were all in double figures.

Green had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Durant led the team with 24. Curry had 20 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds. Thompson finished the night with 18, David West had 10, and the Warrior bench was productive with 39 points.

Mavericks veteran power forward Dirk Nowitzki is in his 20th season with Dallas and tallied 16 points. Former Stanford star, Dwight Powell, scored 18 points. Dennis Smith, Jr was impressive for the Mavericks with 22 points. Wesly Matthews added 17 points.

The Warriors stopped committing turnovers halfway through the third quarter and finished the night with 16. They are 31-4 when they commit 16 or fewer turnovers in a game.

The Warriors finished the night shooting 14-for-29 from the 3-point range. They also recorded 37 assists.

After the game, Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr had quite a few things to say: “It took us a while to get going but I “liked the way we dug out.”

“Dallas controlled the first half but (I) didn’t feel we were in danger.”

“Liked the way Draymond fought. He was “just competing, but nothing was going down for him.”

” I think our talent took over in the third quarter. If we take care of the ball, we’re going to be in good shape.”

Up Next: The Warriors will be tested on Saturday as they welcome the San Antonio Spurs to Oracle Arena at 5:30 pm PT.