AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez
The only thing leakier than the American Airlines Center roof on Tuesday night was the Golden State Warriors defense.
The Dallas Mavericks avoided the sweep, beating the Dubs 119-109 in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals behind Luka Doncic’s 30 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists.
Dorian Finney-Smith added 23 points, while Steph Curry led the Warriors with 20 points and eight assists.
The game was such a blowout late in the third quarter that Steve Kerr pulled all of his starters, and none returned until he put Curry back in the game with 3:23 remaining after the Warriors’ backups cut a 29-point deficit to eight, though the Mavericks hung on from there.
That added some intrigue, but like so many games this postseason, Tuesday night’s affair was a blowout for long stretches, and the Dubs heard about it on Twitter afterward:
In Golden State’s defense, the Mavericks were absolutely scalding from beyond the arc, shooting 20-of-43 from three. And Dallas hammered the Warriors in the third quarter, outscoring them 37-23.
Generally, the third quarter is when Golden State thrives. Outside of the backups playing well for a stretch in the fourth quarter, there was no thriving for the Dubs on Tuesday.
From top to bottom, this was a bizarre game. The second half was delayed 16 minutes after two leaks in the American Airlines Center roof dripped water onto the court near Golden State’s bench.
And then there was… this:
So yeah, this was a strange night.
Game 5 will return to San Francisco on Thursday night at 9 p.m. ET on TNT. Perhaps it will buck the trend in these playoffs and actually be a tight, compelling matchup from beginning to end.
If not, hopefully it’s at least super weird like its Game 4 counterpart.
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