Luka Doncic's Dallas Mavs End 5-Game Road Trip with Loss Against Golden State Warriors

The Mavs finished a five-game road trip with a 4-1 record after being defeated by the Warriors.

Apr 2, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) dribbles the / Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

SAN FRANCISCO — Ending a five-game Western Conference road trip with a 4-1 record, the Dallas Mavericks (45-30) fell short in a late-game rallying effort against the Golden State Warriors (40-35), resulting in a 104-100 loss. Dallas had won seven straight games and 11 of its previous 12 games before being defeated at Chase Center.

"I think it was a great road trip," Mavs superstar Luka Doncic said. "Especially since we had to fly to Texas and back to California so it's a long road trip, longest I've ever been a part of. But I think it was a great road trip. 4-1 on the road is great."

Doncic finished with 30 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists, tying James Harden for the eighth most career regular-season triple-doubles in NBA history. He was coming off being named the Western Conference Player of the Month earlier in the day, marking his second consecutive month receiving the honor. Despite the loss, Doncic praised the Mavs' current outlook after the team's lengthy road trip.

Apr 2, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) dribbles the / Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

“We’re a good team. In all the ways. I’m serious," Doncic said. "Our defense has stepped up big, our offense is good so I think we have a great team.”

Kyrie Irving had a standout performance, scoring 27 points while adding three steals and two assists. P.J. Washington was the Mavs' third player to reach the 20-point threshold, scoring 20 points and chipping in five boards, three steals, and one block. Daniel Gafford added 10 points, eight rebounds, and three assists on the night.

Stephen Curry was held to 13 points on 5-18 shooting from the floor but added seven rebounds and seven assists. Dallas was focused on blitzing Curry aggressively. It was a tough shooting night for the "Splash Brothers" overall, considering Klay Thompson scored 14 points and shot 5-14 from the floor and 2-8 from beyond the arc. Golden State still found a way to win.

"Steph and Klay didn’t play particularly well tonight on the offensive end but a lot of their other guys got going," Irving said. "I think that was the tale of the game tonight. Their other guys got going and they made timely shots, and got timely stops.”

Draymond Green often served as a relief option on the short roll for Curry in addition to initiating the offense at times while still managing to stuff the stat sheet with 11 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and four steals. He came up with a momentum sealing block against Daniel Gafford on a drop-off pass with the team up by six in clutch time.

"That's something that he has perfected, being able to play make out of the short roll," Kidd said of Green. "He found a way to score and find and find guys and so whenever you put two on the ball with Steph, you can't when Draymond's involved in that pick-and-roll. We just have to be a little bit better.

"We play those guys here shortly at the end of this week, and we can see what we can do better to make it tougher on him," Kidd continued. "He's seen every defense, and Steph has seen every defense, so we just have to try and keep those guys off balance."

Andrew Wiggins led Golden State in scoring with 23 points. Chris Paul helped lead a few runs for the Warriors, totaling 14 points and five assists off the bench. Moses Moody added another 14 points. While his box score stats didn't jump off the page, Trayce Jackson-Davis did haul in 10 boards and scored four points, but what stood out most was his ability to play the five, while Green could maximize his defensive versatility.

Using hot perimeter shooting, the Mavs jumped out to a 9-0 lead to start the game, but the Warriors quickly rallied back and held a 28-27 advantage at the end of the period. With the Warriors playing smaller personnel, the Mavs frequently played through Doncic as one of the bigs in Horns sets or simply allowed him to operate in the middle of the floor with the ball. He took advantage of having space to attack.

Later in the opening period, the Mavs had Doncic frequently initiate to draw double teams, creating chances for the offense to play advantage basketball. With Doncic going through a shooting cold spell, Dallas could not capitalize, but Irving did get to the rim for a smooth finger roll to put Dallas up 27-23 with Curry on the bench.

Despite Doncic returning to the game shortly after, the Mavs had an extended stretch of poor execution on both ends. The Warriors were ahead 37-34 when Doncic checked back in and continued to build on it. Golden State dialed up the defensive pressure against the Slovenian superstar, frequently blitzing him when he played pick-and-roll. One sequence involved a turnover on the sideline that led to a breakaway dunk for Gary Payton II, putting the Warriors up by five. Curry hit a pair of 3-pointers to push Golden State up by an 11-point margin.

Doncic frequently drew two defenders on his drives, with the Warriors sending an early low man, often living with leaving a weaker perimeter shooter open. Coupled with Doncic not converting from beyond the arc in the first half, it was a formidable combination for Dallas to overcome. The Mavs began utilizing more two-man game actions with Doncic and Irving to close out the first half and settle into playing out of short rolls.

After the Warriors went up 47-34, it appeared as though all of the momentum was in their favor. Dallas used an impressive 13-0 run to close out the first half, with improved perimeter shooting results and capitalizing on Warriors turnovers. The game was tied 49-49 at halftime.

After halftime, Doncic was featured more playing out of the post, immediately creating a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer for Irving. Doncic followed that makeup with a step-back from beyond the arc playing out of a re-screen. Dallas led 55-49, scoring 19 unanswered points until the Warriors managed to end their dry spell.

"In the past that could have easily been a bigger lead at halftime, or it could have been 20 but it's tied," Kidd said. "We just thought we didn't play well. We had some great looks on the offensive end, but I think it's just the character of the group. When you look at this road trip, we've been down, we haven't played well. We've stayed together and we understand there's two halves to the game."

Doncic returned to attacking out of high pick-and-roll, but the Warriors remained intent on preventing driving lanes from being clear for finishes. He used his short-range game to get into a step-back for a jumper. Irving attacked the gap out of a wide pindown for a pull-up from short-range, too.

Dallas often did not impact the Warriors' jump shots throughout much of the third quarter, whether catch-and-shoot looks out of spot-up or jumpers created out of off-ball actions. The Mavs' game plan was to leave weaker shooters open if needed to pack the paint and were made to pay for stretches. A spot-up look from Andrew Wiggins tied it up at 61-61.

Doncic heated up from beyond the arc midway through the third period, including a step-back jumper against contact followed by a catch-and-shoot look. However, these plays didn't lead to a run for Dallas, but the team led 74-71 after Hardaway made a 3-pointer. Golden State took over from there. Led by Paul, the Warriors scored nine unanswered points to close out the frame, resulting in being up 80-74 to start the fourth quarter.

“We never give up. I think we had three great looks, P.J. had a catch-and-shoot, Kai had a catch-and-shoot, I had a catch-and-shoot, open catch-and-shoot three times," Doncic said. "So I think we had a great look that we could go up, but we just didn’t make them.”

Facing an 11-point deficit early in the final frame after Wiggins made a floater, the Mavs faced difficult circumstances to overcome. A quick 5-0 run sparked by an Irving and-one pull-up jumper and Washington scoring on a short roll attack coming out of a timeout pulled Dallas within six points with over half the fourth quarter remaining.

“I don’t ever feel like we’re out of any game. Especially with how powerful we are offensively," Irving said. "We got a lot of great looks in that fourth quarter, just didn’t hit them tonight. So we look forward to playing them again in the next two games and seeing where we match up then.”

With Gafford hitting Irving with a pass out after he countered the defender top-locking before a handoff, the Mavs used the layup to come within four points. Gafford made a series of dirty work plays to make it a two-point game, including a putback after Irving's missed layup followed by completing a catch and finish following a throw-ahead pass from Doncic. A transition layup from Hardaway made it 92-92.

“Our two leaders got great looks. If not, they were making plays for other guys. PJ made a big three there at the top of the floor," Kidd said. "Just the trust that they have in one another, on both ends, offensively and defensively. There’s a lot of positive things. There’s a lot of trust and chemistry is at a high right now. I truly believe in this group. We’re gonna learn from this and get better.”

A baseline jumper from Thompson pushed the Warriors back ahead by two early in clutch time. Gafford then goaltended when trying to clean up a breakdown on a blitz from the Mavs' pick-and-roll defense, giving up a finish to the short roll after Curry's behind-the-back pass. Golden State led by four points with over two minutes remaining in regulation.

Dallas failed to capitalize on an open corner 3-pointer for Washington and then committed another goaltending violation against Green's finish attempt, resulting in the Warriors extending their lead to 98-92 with under two minutes left on the game clock.

"Going into the fourth quarter, but we were down maybe eight to 12 points and we had to make a comeback," Irving said. "We need games like that to get in better conditioning, No. 1, and then also be mentally, physically, and spiritually prepared, emotionally prepared as well."

The Mavs tried steadying the game by playing out of the two-man game with Doncic and Irving, but the result was Green's pivotal block against Gafford. Green scored again on the other end, playing out of an inverted pick-and-roll for a drive and finish. Irving made a pull-up 3-pointer down by eight points to bring Dallas within five, but the defense failed to contain Wiggins on a baseline drive on a made floater. The game was nearly clinched for Golden State with 32.2 seconds left as they led 102-95.

Washington made a deep 3-pointer followed by a defensive stop with Maxi Kleber blocking Thompson's finish on the trail. Irving then made two free throws after getting fouled on a transition push. Dallas was down 102-100 with 15.0 seconds to play. Thompson iced the game after being fouled and having a perfect trip to the free throw line.

Irving felt the Warriors made some important adjustments since the last time the two teams played in March, describing the game as having a playoff atmosphere. With the strategic back-and-forth involving both teams, there is plenty of film for Dallas to review before the two teams face off again on Friday at American Airlines Center.

"They made some adjustments from the last time we played them. Steph was out there playing, Klay (Thompson) was starting," Irving said. "They made a few changes and it felt like kind of a playoff atmosphere tonight as well, the way we were going back and forth. Just some of the chess moves that they were making."

As a leader of the team, Irving emphasized how the team is focused on achieving incremental progress — a sentiment he's shared throughout the season as a leader — as opposed to being fixated on coming short of perfection.

"It was a great road trip. I'm trying my best to let my ego perfectionist side seep in right here and say, 'Well, I wish you we should have gone 5-0.' But we're not seeking perfection. We're seeking incremental progress and being able to be tested in situations like this so we can be prepared for the playoffs. That's how I see it.

"So this road trip was definitely great," Irving continued. "We learned a lot about each other and I think we made up for some of the other games that we had on the previous road trip where we let our guard down or we were in the game."

Looking ahead, the Mavs will take on the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday, beginning a three-game stretch at American Airlines Center.