SAN FRANCISCO — As we entered the fourth quarter of the Warriors' game against the Mavericks on Sunday night, all arrows pointed to an easy Golden State victory.
For three quarters, the Warriors' defense was taking a beating. His offense was in its classic free-flowing form. He took a 21-point lead at one point and was 19 points up in fourth place. But as the final 12 minutes drew to a close, there was a complete pace shift, and it resulted in the Warriors losing to Dallas 107–101.
Golden State's 19-point lead is the biggest fourth-quarter lead in the NBA this season.
"We didn't keep our patience," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "We just let our momentum go away from us... we can't just say, 'Oh well, we'll be better off when Drummond [Green] and Andre [Igodala] come back.' It doesn't matter who is out. We have to perform better under pressure and to maintain our ability.
"It's good to really go through it and feel it because that's what it feels like in the playoffs, when you're playing against a really good team."
The deciding phase of the game began at 9:44 in the fourth and progressed until there was about 1:30 left in the game. For those 8½ minutes, Dallas went 26-1—the Warriors' only point was coming from an Andrew Wiggins free throw.
Kerr attributed the Mavericks' push to Dallas who fell short and Spencer Dinwiddie caught fire, scoring 10 of his 24 points in the fourth.
"We tried a few different combinations to gain momentum and we didn't get anything," he said. "When they got short, we didn't react. We missed a few open shots and they picked up the pace."
Stephen Curry said, 'We played a great defense for 36 minutes. "We felt we had the game under control. For whatever reason, our energy turned when we missed a few shots, empty assets. They come down and score, we end up getting deflated. And without any of reason."
Curry's right: The Warriors' defense was weak early on, especially those of Wiggins and Gary Peyton II. In the first half, Wiggins kept the Mavericks shooting 2-of-11 and forcing three turnovers as the primary defender. He and Peyton retained Luka Doncic for only 1-of-8 shooting and four turnovers.
But, as the Golden State's crime went south, so did its defense.
"We direct our energy and our spirit in the game to our offense," said Kevon Looney. "We kind of turned when calamity struck."
Sunday's meltdown is the second home game in a row and the second of their last three games in which the Warriors have given up a major fourth-quarter advantage, the other being against the Denver Nuggets on February 16.
"We have to figure out how to keep our energy up when the shots aren't falling," Curry said. "Because, that's what can happen in a playoff game... so I'd say it was a good lesson to learn, even if it sucks to go through."
Curry believes there are lessons the Warriors can take from their game against the Mavericks, as does Kerr, who highlighted effort and execution under pressure as two main areas he needs to address. wants.
But, it will not happen by itself. And as Kerr said, Golden State is well past the point of relying on the returns of Green and Iguodala.
"We have to take the lead," Curry said. "Keep that up for no more than 48 minutes and every game we'll have the opportunity to do that - to turn it into a positive and try to build momentum, but it's not going to happen by itself because the coach says so or because we Want to do it. We have to do it."