Golden State Silences Four-Time NBA Champions Return to the Bay Area
The chase for the 2024 NBA Emirates Cup has begun, and in its first round of games, we saw some very exciting matchups. One of these happened to be Klay Thompson’s return to the Bay Area for his first matchup against his former team, the Golden State Warriors where he spent the past 13 seasons and won four NBA championships from the span of 2015-2022. In this first bout between these two teams, both the Dallas Mavericks and the Warriors went back and forth with one another. Nonetheless, after a wild matchup, it would be the Warriors who would grab the win and improve to 9-2 thanks to their MVP Stephen Curry's monster performance, particularly at clutch time when it looked like he could simply not miss. For Dallas, they dropped to 5-6 in what has been a disappointing start to the season for last season’s Western Conference champions.
As expected these two teams went at each other’s throats early. It would be the Warriors taking a six-point lead after 12 minutes of action behind Curry’s 12 points. Luka Dončić also finished the first quarter with 12 points for the Mavericks. Midway through the second quarter, the Mavericks went on a 13-0 run to give them the lead. While Dallas led by nine with two minutes left in the half, the Warriors would cut the lead to four going into halftime. Dončić led the game with 22 points, while Steph dropped just two points in the second quarter to give him 14, while Klay had 11. Golden State looked unbelievable during the third. After being down four points at the half, the Warriors went on a 16-0 run to go up 13 halfway through the third quarter. However, this did not stop the Mavs' momentum as they continued to battle against the Warriors by any means. Kyrie Irving brought Dallas to within three points after a turnaround bank shot with about four minutes remaining in the third. Yet, the Warriors held a nine-point lead at one point before finishing the quarter up seven.
During the fourth quarter, this game would be tied at 98, 100, and with the game tied at 105, Dallas went on a 7-0 run. However, Stephen Curry had other plans, bringing Golden State back from this deficit and helping the Warriors go on a 10-0 run. Curry dropped the last 10 points the Warriors needed to turn around and win this game, he sealed the game when he hit a three to put Golden State up four with 28 seconds left. Even though Quentin Grimes knocked a three down to make it a one-point game. Curry would be fouled and hit two free throws. Dončić chucked up a shot near the buzzer and it wasn’t enough for Dereck Lively II to pull down. The Warriors would go on to win 120-117.
The four-time NBA champion in Steph Curry finished the game with 37 points along with six rebounds, nine assists, a steal, and two blocks. Jonathan Kuminga had 16 points in 18 minutes off the bench in the win. Dončić recorded 31 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and three steals. In his first game back in the Bay, Thompson scored 22 points with four rebounds and three assists in the loss. The Warriors’ next NBA Emirates Cup game takes place on Friday against the Memphis Grizzlies. For Dallas, their next NBA Emirates Cup game happens next Tuesday against the banged-up New Orleans Pelicans. Both of these teams will look to hold the Emirates Cup this season and will ensure the Los Angeles Lakers do not repeat as Cup champions.
