SAN FRANCISCO — Coach Jason Kidd blamed the Dallas Mavericks’ one-dimensional offensive approach for squandering a 19-point lead in Friday’s 126-117 loss to the Golden State Warriors and criticized his team for letting it slide relied too heavily on the 3-point shot in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals.
The Mavs made 21 of 45 3-point attempts in the game, making it the third most 3-point attempts made during a playoff loss in NBA history, according to research by ESPN Stats & Information. But Kidd cited Dallas’ shot selection as a big problem in the third quarter, when the Mavs were held at 13 points and going 2 of 13 with 3 seconds.
“If you’re playing 2-for-13 and relying on the 3, you can die on the 3,” Kidd said after the Warriors took a 2-0 lead. “And we died in the third quarter because we shot so many 3s and only came out two.”
| 3s done | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2020 1st round | rockets | 23 |
| 2020 Conf Semifinals | rockets | 22 |
| 2022 Conf Finals | outsider | 21 |
| 2021 Conf Semifinals | jazz | 21 |
| 2021 1st round | Trailblazer | 21 |
The Mavs made it to the Western Conference Finals in large part due to their prolific 3-point shooting. They developed successfully as superstar guard Luka Doncic orchestrated a five-out offensive attack, with Maxi Kleber playing significantly more minutes than starter Dwight Powell at center in the postseason. Dallas leads the league with 3 points scored (15.6 per game) and attempted (41.1) points in these playoffs, shooting 37.9% from beyond the arc.
In their blowout loss in Game 1 to the Warriors, the Mavs went from 3-point range 11 on 48, but Kidd encouraged his team to keep their eyes open that night. The Mavs extended their big lead with searing shots Friday night at the Chase Center as they were 15 of 27 from 3-point range in the first half. Then the well dried up in the third quarter as the Warriors beat the Mavs 25-13.
“I mean, we looked great,” said Mavs guard Jalen Brunson, who scored 31 points on 11-of-19 shooting, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range. “If we are open, we will shoot. We have a lot of people who are capable of taking shots and deflecting shots. So I think as long as we’re open and we’re taking the right shots, making that extra pass, when we’re doing the things that we’re doing we have faith in everyone, I have faith in everyone to put it down.
But Kidd, who chose not to call a time-out when the Warriors made their run in the third quarter, felt the Mavs needed to be more aggressive at dribbling once their knights stopped falling. Dallas was 3-of-6 on 2-point attempts in the third quarter, and the Mavs only attempted four free throws despite being in bonus in the final six minutes.
“If you do [3s], that’s great, but you have to understand, if you miss four in a row, you can’t take the fifth,” Kidd said. “You have to make it. It just puts too much pressure on you and your team because if you don’t get stopped at the other end, it’s going to be a blowout.
At the end of the third quarter, the Warriors were still two points behind. Golden State didn’t take the lead for the first time until reserve forward Otto Porter Jr.’s 3-pointer earned the first possession of the fourth quarter. The dam broke for the Dallas defense in the fourth when the Warriors scored 43 points on 15-of-19 shooting.
“We play defense when we play offense and we don’t play defense when we can’t score,” Kidd said. “We have to do better at this time of year.”
Golden State, which had six scorers in double figures led by Stephen Curry’s 32 points, dominated Dallas by a 62-30 lead in paint scoring. Doncic finished the game with 42 points and eight assists, recording 12 of 23 from the floor and 5 of 10 on 3 seconds.
It was the seventh 40-point playoff performance in the 23-year-old’s career, tied for the most in franchise history with Dirk Nowitzki. But the Mavs are only 2-5 if Doncic scores 40 or more points.
Doncic thought, as he had after a few losses to the Phoenix Suns in the previous series, that the Mavs had made a mistake by not driving more often.
“We didn’t attack the paint that much,” said Doncic. “But we need to attack the color more like they did. They attacked the color a lot. They have two of the best shooters in the world and they’re still attacking the color. So I think we need to rely less on the 3.”