© Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
There’s an alternate timeline somewhere out there where Kevin Durant chose to stay in the Bay Area, the Warriors stars all avoided their major injuries and the dynasty churned out another 40-something point win on the road in Dallas.
That’s not the dimension you and I live in.
In this one, the Warriors were without Draymond Green (sore heel). That, plus an almost perfect game from Luka Dončić put Golden State on the wrong side of a 142-94 blowout.
The Warriors entered the game tied with the Wizards for the worst defensive rating in the league (114.4), and it showed early against the Mavericks. Golden State came out flat and Dallas was able to score from all over the court, seemingly whenever they wanted.
Luka Dončić had the best scoring half of any NBA player so far this year. He finished the first quarter with 22 points and had 33 by the time the half was over.
Eric Paschall continued to be one of the only bright spots on a year to forget. The Villanova product wasn’t particularly efficient from the floor in the first two quarters but had a couple highlights at the rim, including a drive and flush against half of the arena. He finished the half with 10 points.
Eric Paschall just dunked on half of the Mavericks team ?? pic.twitter.com/rm1zLzqzTl
— KNBR (@KNBR) November 21, 2019
Ky Bowman added nine points of his own, but the Warriors went to the locker room at halftime down 74-38. It was the most points the Warriors have allowed in a first half all season.
By rule the two teams had to come out and play the second half of the game, but the score didn’t get any better for the Warriors.
With only four minutes left in the period Dončić grabbed a rebound to complete his second straight triple double. He didn’t play in the fourth quarter, and finished the night playing only 25 minutes. It was the fewest minutes any NBA player has ever needed to log a 30-point triple double.
The second half played out like a game at your local gym, with very little defense and both teams heaving shots from deep. Golden State finished the game shooting 39 percent from the field and 30 percent from beyond the arc.
By the time the final horn sounded the Mavericks had handed the Warriors a 48-point whooping, leading in almost every statistical category.
Pascal led Golden State with 22 points on an 8-of-19 night from the field and Ky Bowman turned in another good game with 16 points.
This was the third game of a four-game trip for Golden State. They will look to finish the trip with a win in Friday night in Utah.