The Warriors beat the Mavericks 109–100 in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals on Sunday night to take a commanding 3–0 series lead.
Dallas had no answer for Golden State star Steph Curry, who scored 31 points on 50% shooting from the floor, and they couldn’t slow down Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins, either. Wiggins returned from injury in Game 3 to score 27 points and pull down 11 rebounds in the victory, which included an impressive dunk over Mavs’ star Luka Dončić.
Dončić overcame an up-and-down first few quarters on Sunday to finish with 40 points and 11 rebounds for the Mavericks, who are staring elimination in the face as they prepare for Game 4 on Tuesday night.
Dallas coach Jason Kidd wasn’t too discouraged when speaking with reporters after the game.
“This is just the beginning of our journey,” Kidd said when asked about Dončić.
“It’s cool to go through this. This isn’t the end, this is just the beginning,” Kidd added.
Dončić, acknowledging the deep hole his team is in as they pursue an NBA finals appearance, took the long view as well.
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“The first three quarters, I played very bad. That’s on me. I’m still learning. I think after this season is done, whenever we are, I’m going to look back and learn a lot of things. This is my first conference finals in the NBA. I’m 23, man. I’m still learning a lot,” he said.
With their season hanging in the balance, the Mavs will look to avoid the sweep on Tuesday night in Dallas. Game 4 is slated for a 9 p.m. ET start and will be televised on TNT.
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