DALLAS— Little has stopped Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks when they’ve had their “backs against the wall” this postseason.
Not even an indoor rain delay slowed their pursuits Tuesday night.
Dallas beat the Golden State Warriors 119-109 in Game 4 of this Western Conference finals series to trim the series deficit to 3-1 and force a Game 5 Thursday night in Chase Center.
Luka Doncic led with 30 points, 14 rebounds, nine assists, two blocks and two steals in 34 minutes. But the balanced offensive contributions with six players in double figures, consistency from three and poised defensive focus buoyed one of the team’s most notable bounceback victories of the season.
The Mavericks’ first three-game losing streak since early December didn’t extend into the franchise’s first playoff losing sweep since the 2012 first round to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and they improved to 3-0 in elimination scenarios this postseason.
The ease and flow of Dallas’ approach prompted some to wonder what might’ve been had they established the same consistency before falling into a never-before-erased 0-3 hole.
But after a heavy, emotional afternoon and a few in-game oddities, the Mavericks weren’t keen to dwell hypotheticals.
Time to rev up the planes for a return trip to San Francisco — and another chance to chip away at history.
The team’s intensity entering Game 4 already heightened with the close-knit Mavericks facing what could’ve been their last game together and the Warriors one victory from closing out their sixth trip to the NBA Finals in the last eight years — with more than a week to rest before the championship series starts June 2.
News of the elementary school shooting that killed at least 18 children and one teacher in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday afternoon added to the emotions.
Both coaches spoke only about the tragedy during their pregame press conferences — with Kerr, whose father was murdered by two gumen, outraged with U.S. senators’ inaction — and the public address announcer’s voice wavered with emotion while leading a pregame moment of silence.
But then the Mavericks channeled the poise and focus they’ve developed under Kidd’s leadership this season and served as a positive distraction from the news for a few hours — plus an extra 16 minutes.
Dallas opened a 28-24 lead after the first quarter.
Extended the lead to 15 points (62-47) at halftime.
And then beat the Warriors at their own third-quarter dominance.
In the first three games of this series, the Warriors outscored Dallas by 10, 12 and nine points, respectively, in the third quarter.
Forgive Mavericks fans if they felt particularly wary Tuesday night because Golden State had already trumped a double-digit halftime lead in Game 2.
But neither the Warriors nor structural issues from the ceiling kept Dallas from opening a 29-point lead (99-70) by the end of the third quarter.
They just delayed the onslaught a bit.
An official called Doncic and a couple Mavericks off the court just as players emerged from the locker rooms to start the second half.
He pointed up. The AAC roof had a leak for the second time in the last two months.
Make that multiple leaks, which caused arena workers to cover the corner in front of the Warriors’ bench with several towels as mops and league officials to delay the second half tipoff by 16 minutes.
Players re-dressed in warm-ups.
Coach Jason Kidd and general manager Nico Harrison conversed at the bench and pointed up at the ceiling where maintenance employees worked in the rafters.
The arena DJ played rain-themed music for entertainment.
The Mavericks finished 11 of 23 from three in the first half and 20 of 43 in the game.
No truth to the rumor, however, that they literally made it rain.
Kerr pulled all starters except for Steph Curry with 2:50 remaining in the third quarter, a sign the Warriors felt doomed to lose their first closeout opportunity for a third consecutive series.
Golden State’s reserves must not’ve received the memo.
The Warriors’ reserve lineup of Jordan Poole, Damion Lee, Nemanja Bjelica, and rookies Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody flummoxed the Mavericks with zone defense and cut into the Mavericks’ lead enough to force Kidd to re-insert Doncic midway through the fourth quarter.
They cut Dallas’ lead to eight points (110-102) with 3:23 remaining.
But then Doncic finished an alley-oop dunk out of a timeout, and Bullock drained his sixth 3-pointer of the game on the next possession.
Double-digit lead, restored.
Historic comeback, still a possibility.
No team in 146 instances in NBA history has advanced after starting a playoff series down 3-0.
But the Mavericks withstood the Warriors’ 39-20 fourth quarter to earn more time to become the first.
