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Dallas flew in to Oakland just a half game ahead of Utah for the final spot in the playoffs. It didn't look likely that the Mavs would break Golden State's home win steak down a Dirk and a Deron.
The Mavericks kept it relatively close through the end of the third quarter. Hot shooting from behind the arc kept Dallas in this game. In the the fourth Dallas got white hot and brought the game within three in the last three minutes left.
But Golden State went nuts from three point range to stave off what would have been a horrific loss. A pair of triples from Harrison Barnes and Klay Thompson would ultimately be enough to wrap up the win. The two teams would combine to make 38 three pointers (Mavs 18 Warriors 20), breaking the NBA record.
Dwight Powell is alive
Hey! Look who's back, it's Dwight Powell. Down three mavs it's hard to keep anybody on the bench entirely. With 4:30 left in the third quarter Powell caught a smack in the mouth from Anderson Varejao.
He also hit a couple of midrange jump shots which I honestly can't remember the last time I saw him hit something outside of 5 feet. Powell was able to grab
Starting JJ Barea is a monster
Barea caught the shooting bug early and hit his first four shots from deep. When Barea starts it's almost always because one or more of the regular starters is out. JJ's penetration and playmaking helps to kickstart this offense when they hit a cold patch.
Whenever JJ is hot from deep it makes him that much more dangerous of a player. Having a hot shooting Barea coupled with a hot shooting Wesley Matthews is much more effective.
Charlie V oh my
FORGIVE ME, CHARLIE V
— Jason Gallagher (@jga41agher) March 26, 2016
Charlie Villanueva, literally walking dead man proved that spontaneous combustion is a real thing. Charl3 hit four shots from behind the arc all coming in the 4th quarter.. Early in the game Villanueva looked extremely hesitant with his shot so this ballistic long range bombing was completely surprising. Charlie would finish with 16 points all coming in the final quarter. This is the most any Maverick has scored in a single quarter this year. So yeah this game got weird.
Justin Anderson got some much needed minutes
With the Mavs down so many players it would be nearly impossible for Carlisle to keep the rookie off the floor. Anderson his a pair of triples and also played some solid defense all night against Klay Thompson and Steph Curry. Justin would play more than 20 minutes for only the third time this season.