The worst news for Luka Doncic's Dallas Mavericks is not that yesterday they lost against Stephen Curry's Golden State Warriors (126-117).
Nor that they go two to zero down in the Western Conference final or, what is the same, the NBA semifinal.
The worst thing is that they lost against a team that played poorly for most of the game, that still stayed alive and that when he pressed the accelerator and brought out his best basketball, he easily stole a victory from the Mavericks that they almost savored.
The local press has been making a strong mark on Luka Doncic since he arrived in San Francisco.
They say that the star of the Mavericks had a beer before the first game and that this Friday they saw him before the second with some friends in a Mexican in San Francisco where they ordered tacos and burritos.
But above all, it was speculated that he had been sick and almost without sleep the night after the first loss against the Warriors.
Surely Doncic is sick of losing.
But yesterday he jumped onto the field ready to show that he was healthy.
The Slovenian signed a first exhibition quarter, with 18 points of all kinds of invoice.
The rival marking was not as fierce as that of the press.
Triples from more than eight meters, mid-range shots, shots to the basket and even a full-fledged mate.
He also grabbed three rebounds and if he only had two assists it was because of that unfair point that this statistic has: his teammates missed a few shots in positions of advantage that he had generated for them.
Throughout the first quarter it seemed that the Mavericks knew what they were playing while the Warriors were carried away by inertia and a few flashes of Curry.
Therefore, the seven point lead (25-32) was not enough for Doncic's men.
In the second quarter, the two coaches decided to give their stars a rest and, surprisingly, the advantage of the Dallas team not only did not decrease, but grew while the former Real Madrid player was on the bench.
A very inspired Jalen Brunson from the line of three punished the Warriors.
LUKA DONCIC FROM DEEP TO END THE FIRST HALF.
HE'S GOT 24 ON TNT.
pic.twitter.com/hFEI9cAobl
– NBA (@NBA) May 21, 2022
With 19 points down, Curry returned to the track and made his team react a bit.
Soon Doncic also returned and again the fourth closed with seven more points of advantage, up to a total of 14 (72-58), with a new stratospheric triple from the 23-year-old Slovenian as closing.
The Mavericks had managed to hit more three-pointers in the first half, give more assists and score almost as many points as in the entire first game.
And although things seemed on track, there was the feeling that they did not finish escaping.
Steph Curry starting to feel it on TNT... 13-0 @warriors run as we go back and forth!
pic.twitter.com/PUjvC2Bt1M
– NBA (@NBA) May 21, 2022
In the third quarter, the Mavericks' scoring slump more than the Warriors' success closed the gap.
The Dallas team, who had scored 40 points in the second quarter, had only 13 in the third.
Those from San Francisco, with another discreet section, approached almost unintentionally.
Pure talent
Of course, Stephen Curry emerged more and more, who had supported his team in the worst moments in what seemed like a one-on-one duel with Doncic.
Curry is pure talent.
He has it in his genes, his father, Dell Curry, was an NBA player, a 1.96-meter point guard, a great shooter.
Stephen and his brother Seth, also a player, grew up on a basketball court.
When he won the championship ring he gave a shirt to Drazen Petrovic's mother, who took care of him when the Croatian competed with his father in the triple contest.
Shorter than his father, he had to go to Davidson University after being rejected by Virginia Tech for not measuring up.
Not only has he been the best player to ever come through Davidson, he also just graduated in Sociology.
But above all, he is probably the best three-point shooter in basketball history.
As the Mavericks failed over and over again, he threw the team on top of him.
The third quarter was almost even.
And at the beginning of the fourth, the Warriors, thanks to a triple, took the lead for the first time (86-85) after a whole game in tow.
They hadn't done much and there they were.
"The best shooter this game has seen."
Steph Curry seals the @warriors 19-point comeback to take a 2-0 lead in the West Finals!
pic.twitter.com/WOPVydI0Ql
– NBA (@NBA) May 21, 2022
At that moment yes, as liberated, the Warriors brought out the best basketball they have inside, the one that combines physical power, crazy pace and surgeon precision.
They dismasted the Mavericks over and over again.
Doncic struggled impotently and finished the game with 42 points, but neither he was so fine nor was the team with him.
Brunson finished with 31 points, but mostly thanks to that glorious streak of 3-pointers in the first half.
And Bullock, with 21, also went from more to less.
Stephen Curry (who finished the game with 32 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists), Jordan Poole (23 points) and Kevon Looney (21 points and 12 rebounds) owned the game.
Three other San Francisco players had 10-plus points after a fourth quarter in which the Warriors scored a whopping 43 points.
The tie now travels back to Dallas, but things have to change a lot with the field factor so that the Mavericks can turn it around.
If with the Warriors playing poorly, they're down 2-0, they better not play well.
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