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The Golden State Warriors are usually heralded for their flashy offensive fireworks that provide a slew of entertaining highlights.
But in Wednesday’s Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Mavericks, it was the Warriors defense that carried the team to a 112-87 blowout victory at Chase Center. Golden State held Dallas to 36.0 percent shooting from the field and 11-of-48 (22.9 percent) from beyond the arc.
The Warriors frontcourt of Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins and Kevon Looney did an outstanding job of shutting down the Mavericks’ dribble penetration. In particular, Wiggins played some strong defense on Dallas star Luka Doncic, who finished with 20 points on 6-of-18 shooting with seven turnovers.
Throughout the night, the Dubs received a ton of praise for their effort to stifle the Mavs offense. Some even compared Wednesday’s defensive performance to Golden State’s title-winning teams.
While Golden State’s defense was stout Wednesday, the team’s offense was also efficient with seven players scoring in double figures. Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 21 points and 12 rebounds, while Jordan Poole added 19 points off the bench.
The Warriors had four days of rest since closing out their semifinal series against the Memphis Grizzlies, but any concerns of a flat performance were alleviated in the opening minutes of Wednesday’s game. Golden State opened with the energy and effort on defense that it will need to play consistently if it wants to advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2019.
The Dubs will look to keep the momentum going in Friday’s Game 2.
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