The Golden State Warriors are one win away from the NBA Finals after beating the Dallas Mavericks 109-100 in Game 3 on Sunday night. Led by a 31-point performance from Stephen Curry and 27 points from Andrew Wiggins, Golden State once again asserted their dominance over Dallas and went into the series with a commanding 3-0 lead.
Luka Doncic tried to lead the Mavericks to victory with 40 points, 11 rebounds and three assists, but despite Jalen Brunson and Spencer Dinwiddie’s combined 46 points, Dallas again didn’t have enough in the tank to end the win back in the series.
The Warriors will look to wrap up that series on Tuesday, and if they do, they’ll be awaiting the Boston Celtics-Miami Heat series winner in the Eastern Conference.
Here are three food stalls from Game 3 in Dallas.
1. Andrew Wiggins bow
Let’s take a look at that absurd dunk Wiggins had against Doncic in the fourth quarter.
That’s Dunk of the Year material right there. In fact, that’s better than any of the dunks we saw during the dunk contest at All-Star Weekend earlier this season. It’s a dunk that capped another outstanding performance from Wiggins, who finished with a playoff career-high 27 points, plus 11 boards and three assists while shooting 55 percent from the field.
Wiggins has been outstanding for Golden State all series, averaging over 20 points while also enduring the toughest defensive task of guarding Doncic at the other end of the floor. While Doncic is still picking up points, Wiggins has given the Slovenian superstar an incredibly difficult time, and somehow he still finds enough energy to finish dunks like that in the fourth quarter despite playing the most minutes of any Warriors player.
Wiggins has alternated between being the second best player on this team at times to be the ideal role player Golden State needs of him when Curry and Klay Thompson find themselves in trouble. His consistent production on both ends of the floor, which included six offensive rebounds, is one of the reasons Dallas is having such a miserable time trying to protect this Warriors team.
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2. Dallas Roleplayers no-appearance in critical game 3
When the Mavericks lost 2-0 to the Phoenix Suns in the conference semifinals, they responded with four of their five starters scoring in double figures to earn a Game 3 win. Reggie Bullock, Dorian Finney-Smith and Maxi Kleber combined for 43 points in that game to give Dallas – and Doncic – the boost they needed to get back into the series.
That was not the case on Sunday evening. While Doncic received plenty of help from backcourt teammates Jalen Brunson and Spencer Dinwiddie, who combined for 46 points, Bullock walked off the field scoreless at 10-0 in 39 minutes. Finney-Smith had just nine points, while Kleber also went off the field with zero points, 5-0. If all three shoot that poorly, Dallas won’t win many games.
Although Dallas managed to hold it tight until the final buzzer, unlike the previous two contests in this series, it just didn’t feel like they could make a legitimate run without the likes of Bullock, Finney-Smith and Kleber fire shots.
3. Warriors one win away from the NBA Finals
Golden State has been dominant throughout this series and is now one win away from reaching its sixth NBA Finals in eight years. It’s crazy to think that without the injuries to Thompson and Curry over the past two years, the Warriors could be on the verge of reaching their eighth straight NBA Finals. That’s how talented this team has been for the last eight years.
There’s still work to be done as Doncic and the rest of the Mavericks team will certainly do everything in their power to try and extend that streak and avoid a sweep. But with the Warriors now comfortably in the driver’s seat, it’s not too early to start thinking about the next opponent on the calendar.