Steph Curry, Kelly Oubre Jr. Shine as Warriors Cruise Past Luka Doncic, Mavs
After being the source of constant criticism over the first quarter of the 2020-21 season, Kelly Oubre Jr. may be turning a corner.
Oubre scored a season-high 40 points and Stephen Curry added 28, leading the Golden State Warriors to a 147-116 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday.
Dallas has lost seven of its last eight games and appears to be in a tailspin. Luka Doncic led the way with 27 points, but the Mavs defense was a sieve against the small-ball Warriors, who were playing without nearly their entire big-man rotation.
Oubre thrived in the wide-open space, forcing his way to the basket with confidence while also knocking down seven threes. After an abysmal start to the season that had some questioning the Warriors' decision to add Oubre this offseason, he seems to finally be fitting into his role.
Draymond Green also set season highs with 11 points and 15 assists.
Notable Stats
Warriors
G Stephen Curry: 28 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds
G Kelly Oubre: 40 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 steal
F Draymond Green: 11 points, 15 assists, 6 rebounds
Mavericks
G Luka Doncic: 27 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists
C Kristaps Porzingis: 25 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks
It's Panic Time in Dallas
It's hard to judge any team too harshly in light of the NBA's issues dealing with COVID-19, but the Mavs look bad and it's a problem. Dallas owes its unprotected first-round pick to the New York Knicks as part of the Kristaps Porzingis trade, and he hasn't looked like a star all season while working his way back from injury.
Porzingis hit five threes as part of a 25-point effort Thursday, a promising sign given his dreadful shooting since returning to the lineup. However, he continues to be a net minus defensively—something the Mavericks can't afford if they're going to continue playing him primarily at center.
The Mavs paid a unicorn price for Porzingis, and he's been a regular horse that your parents taped a plastic horn to in order to trick you. Dallas needs more.
Porzingis' issues exacerbate the Mavs' deficiencies on the defensive end. Dallas entered the night 19th in defensive efficiency, a number that will worsen once the league updates its database.
If the Mavs were the same historically brilliant offensive team they were a year ago, they could survive being a below-average defensive team. They aren't. Dallas was actually 18th in offensive efficiency coming into the night. That number should improve as the season progresses, but the Mavs are one of the NBA's biggest disappointments.
Warriors Might Want to Stick to This Uptempo Thing
The Warriors already play at the second-fastest pace in the NBA. They may want to try playing even faster.
While we've established that Dallas isn't the defensive barometer most teams judge themselves against, this looked like Peak Warriors basketball. The ball was whirring around the floor, Draymond Green had his best offensive game of the season and there was a certain level of fearless swagger permeating from the shots.
Golden State made an obvious commitment to bigs this offseason when it took James Wiseman with the second pick. Wiseman is going to play significant minutes, whether it's the best move for the team right now or not.
That said, Steve Kerr might want to look at finding ways to play more lineups without a traditional big and let things open up. The benefit to the offense was obvious Thursday.
