Two teams disappointed to be in San Francisco rather than Las Vegas this weekend go head-to-head Sunday night when the Dallas Mavericks visit the Golden State Warriors.
The Mavericks and Warriors, both of whom advanced to the West final four of the NBA Cup out of the same group, suffered first-round defeats in the single-elimination portion of the event. Dallas fell to the West’s top seed, the Oklahoma City Thunder, 118-104 on the road Tuesday, then Golden State was eliminated at Houston, 91-90, on Wednesday.
The Cup format called for the two Western losers to square off in a contest added onto the regular-season schedule, giving each an 82nd game to match the other teams in the league.
The result was a rematch of the Cup opener, which grabbed the national spotlight not because of the tournament but rather because it was Klay Thompson’s return to San Francisco after having left for Dallas in a sign-and-trade in the offseason.
Thompson successfully turned back the clock on his big night, thrilling his old fans with 22 points in his homecoming, a game the Warriors won 120-117.
The five-time All-Star has averaged 13.3 points for Dallas this season, his lowest figure since averaging 12.5 points per game as a Golden State rookie in 2012.
Dallas coach Jason Kidd insisted there’s more to Thompson than just his numbers.
“His fit is perfect for what we need. He’s been great,” Kidd assured. “Klay is a true pro; he comes to work ready to play. We’ve been lucky to have him.”
Thompson’s replacement in the Warriors’ rotation, Buddy Hield, has posted similar numbers this season, producing an average of 14.5 points per outing. He was right on his average (14 points) in the earlier win over the Mavericks.
If the Warriors were seeking a long-distance shooting threat to replace Thompson’s perimeter prowess, they’ve found it in Hield, who has averaged 3.3 3-pointers per game this season with a 42.6-percent shooting rate. Thompson averaged 2.9 with a 37.4 percentage last year.
Lindy Waters III, another Warriors newcomer who like most people was amazed by the reception Thompson received coming out of the visitors’ locker room in San Francisco last month, believes the rematch will take on a completely different tone.
“I think maybe the homecoming has already subsided,” he admitted. “I think we’re just looking at it as the Dallas Mavericks and they’re coming in here to our home court (and) we’ve got to protect it.”
With neither team having had to travel to Las Vegas for the NBA Cup Western finals on Saturday, both were hoping the time off created by the tournament elimination would help soothe recent issues.
The Mavericks had several players under the weather for Tuesday’s game against the Thunder, while the Warriors were missing Andrew Wiggins and Moses Moody on Wednesday because of nagging injuries.
“We feel like we’ve given away three games,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr assessed. “(Additional practice time this week) really allows us to address some of the situational things — our late-game offense, late-quarter stuff. It’s on us as a group — coaches, players — to make these improvements and start closing these games out.”