'I Was Scared': Mavs Relieved After Near Klay Thompson Clutch Heroics

Klay Thompson nearly forced overtime in the Golden State Warriors' loss to the Dallas Mavericks but missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Golden State Warriors 116-113 on Tuesday, with no shortage of late-game dramatic sequences. Atop the list was a missed, potential game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer from Klay Thompson.

In terms of the Warriors' approach, they utilized Stephen Curry as a decoy, knowing the defense would make it their top priority to prevent him from getting a clean shot from beyond the arc. Jordan Poole was also used as a decoy with the goal of making the defense loose track of Thompson, who was flaring out on the other side of the court. 

"It looked like the Utah game all over again," Mavs coach Jason Kidd said of watching Thompson take the last shot. "They ran kind of the same play over the top, got a good look. We got lucky."

Josh Green began the possession guarding Thompson and as Curry screened at the top of the 3-point line, it seems as though Green expected a switch to take place that never quite happened. Finney-Smith recognized this as Thompson was catching the ball and made whatever contest he could. 

“It literally felt like that shot was up in the air for 10 minutes, and I was just waiting,” Green said. “He’s a great player and a great shooter. It’s always very suspenseful when you have one of the best shooters of all-time shooting the game-winning shot.”

There's no telling how the game would have played out had Thompson converted on the final shot, given the outcome would have had to be decided in overtime. 

"I was scared, I'm not going to lie, because it's Klay," Luka Doncic said. "He's not going to miss many open shots. I was very happy when it didn't go in."

The Warriors had a chance to get a quality shot off the possession before Thompson's missed 3-pointer. Golden State trailed by two points at that point and Curry was called for a travel when attempting to take a 3-pointer but not having a clean look initially. 

"Dumb play by me to not take the layup," Curry admitted. "I got a little confused on what the time and score was. I went for the hero shot. I didn't think it was a travel."

The Mavs pulling off a victory was paramount given they could have fallen to a fifth straight loss. Now, Dallas must use a win over the Warriors as a momentum shifting accomplishment to avoid teetering around the .500 mark as they improved to just 10-10 through 20 games. 

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