Thompson scores 40 to lead Warriors over Mavs
Golden State Warriors’ Klay Thompson (11) shoots against the Dallas Mavericks during the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 25, 2016, in Oakland, California. AP
OAKLAND, California—Klay Thompson scored 40 points and Stephen Curry added 33 to help the Golden State Warriors become the second team to post back-to-back 65-win seasons with a 128-120 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night.
Draymond Green added 19 as the Warriors won their 52nd straight regular-season home game and improve their record to 65-7 following a 67-win season a year ago. The only other team to win at least 65 games in consecutive seasons was Chicago in 1995-96 and 1996-97. The Bulls won a record 72 games that first season, a mark the Warriors remain on target to beat after their latest win.
Golden State hit 21 3-pointers to give them a record 938 on the season, breaking the mark of 933 set by Houston last season. Dallas hit 18 3s as the teams combined for a record 39 on the night.
Wesley Matthews scored 26 points and J.J. Barea added 21 for the short-handed Mavericks, who were without three usual starters. David Lee added 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists in his first game back in Oakland since winning the championship with Golden State last season.
The Warriors opened up an 18-point lead in the third quarter before Matthews helped lead Dallas back. He scored 18 points in the quarter as the Mavericks closed to within 102-89 after three. Dallas got the deficit into single digits early in the fourth three times, only to have Thompson respond with 3-pointers each time to restore the double-digit margin.
The Mavericks then closed to 116-113 with just over three minutes remaining on a 3-pointer by Charlie Villanueva. But Harrison Barnes hit a turnaround jumper and Curry scored on a coast-to-coast layup with help from a slick behind-the-back dribble to elude Zaza Pachulia to make it 120-113 with 22:33 remaining.
Curry was involved in one of the few plays that didn’t work on a night dominated by the offenses. Late in the second quarter, he found himself all alone behind the 3-point line. Thompson raised his arms in celebration and started back down to the other end of the court, so sure that Curry would make the open 3. The only problem was Curry decided to pass to an equally open Thompson. The ball hit off Thompson and was nearly a turnover.
Curry made up for that blunder when he hit a 33-footer punctuated by a shimmy dance just before the halftime buzzer to give Golden State a 72-58 lead at the break.
