Dallas Mavericks

Rain leaking through the roof of the American Airlines Center delayed the second half of Game 4 of the Western Conference finals by 16 minutes on Tuesday ...

During the delay, players from both teams stood near half court looking up at the ceiling, with a couple of Warriors players playing rock, paper, scissors to pass the time. It also delayed the start of a Timberwolves-Mavericks game by 15 minutes back on March 21. DALLAS -- Golden State's Splash Brothers were trying not to get wet at the start of the second half Tuesday night as water leaked through the roof of the American Airlines Center, delaying Game 4 of the Western Conference finals between the Warriors and Mavericks by 16 minutes.

Facing elimination at home in Game 4, they responded to get their first win of the Western Conference finals, beating the Golden State Warriors 119-109 on ...

Arena workers had to climb up onto the catwalks near the roof and set up a tarp system to catch the water. There are few players who can control a game like Doncic, and he was not going to let the Mavericks lose. Aside from the first half of Game 2, they have not in this series, which is why the Mavericks were down 3-0 and facing elimination. In Game 4 they found their stroke, going 20 of 43 from downtown en route to a series-saving win. Then, play was halted due to a leak in the roof of the American Airlines Center. When play finally did resume, the Mavericks picked up right where they left off and built a 29-point lead with some incredible 3-point shooting. The series, which now stands 3-1 in favor of the Warriors will head back to the Bay Area for Game 5 on Thursday night.

Dallas staved off elimination by Golden State behind Luka Doncic's near triple-double. But a tragic mass shooting nearby loomed over the game.

By then, the Mavericks had a 15-point lead and were looking to build their momentum. In fact, through the first three games of the series, the Warriors had outscored the Mavericks by a total of 31 points in the third quarter. The Mavericks present a different type of challenge. For both the Nuggets and the Grizzlies, the reprieve was temporary: Golden State closed out each series in the subsequent game. “We move on and we hope that someone actually decides to value our citizens’ lives more than they value money and power.” If nothing else, Tuesday’s win was a credit to the Mavericks and their resilient young core. We didn’t really do nothing to slow it down, and that’s when the avalanche starts. DALLAS — After a second-quarter stoppage in play, Luka Doncic of the Mavericks rose from one leg and tossed up a meaningless shot from beyond the 3-point line whose sole purpose seemed to be to entertain Doncic himself. After scuffling through a couple of injury-marred, playoff-free seasons, Golden State remains one win from its first conference championship since 2019. “It was almost like an ego win,” Golden State’s Stephen Curry said, referring to the Mavericks. “You come out and you really have nothing to lose, so that confidence started early. After avoiding elimination, Dallas, which now trails in the series, 3-1, wants to become the first. While Doncic’s circus shot didn’t count, the degree of difficulty was outrageous.

The start of the second half of Game 4 of the Western Conference finals was delayed 16 minutes because of rain leaking through the roof Tuesday night at the ...

Both teams had already warmed up for the second half before the leaks were noticed. There were eventually five minutes added to the halftime break to allow extra warmup for players for both teams before play finally resumed with the Mavericks up 62-47. With heavy rain falling outside, there were at least two leaks, one dropping water near the Golden State bench.

Don't let this year's Cinderella run fool you, they're still a mess.

That’s obvious, the complexity is in how the hell Dallas is going to do this with limited assets, a maxed-out salary cap, and low-value draft picks. The silver lining in this current Mav mess is that almost any star-level player will do as a paired second star for Dončić to take a retooled Mavs roster to the Finals. It’s up to Harrison, and micro-managing “ shadow GM” Cuban to make the future as bright as the present. For the playoffs thus far, Brunson is averaging 22.7 on shooting splits of 47/35/81. In addition, his scoring average has jumped six points from the regular season and is sure to earn the second-round pick a hefty payday. To see Warriors coach Steve Kerr employ it as consistently as he has in this series shows how dependent the Mavs dumbbells are on Dončić initiating the offense. Kidd has looked clueless in this series after orchestrating a brilliant defensive effort in the Phoenix series. The Mavericks defense, a staple of fans’ overreactions, has been exposed in the Golden State series. And while no one can actually shut down Dončić, he has kept him from being the facilitator he was in the last two series. As a result, Dončić has lost trust in his teammates while over-dribbling the ball in ball-hogging isolation situations on offense. Dinwiddie, the centerpiece of the Porziņģis trade, was nonexistent against the Jazz and has popped up since, here and there, to chip in 10-20 points while getting destroyed on defense by opposing guards and on switches. His $16 million a year contract, also on the books for another two seasons, is one of the worst deals for a bench player in the league. In the process, Dončić moved up the standings of the NBA elite, second only to Giannis Antetokounmpo. Dončić proved he was the best player on the court in every series, including the current WCF against the Warriors. But as the opponents became tougher, the deficiencies of the roster became more apparent. Since then, the Mavericks went on an improbable run to the Western Conference Finals, where they currently are down 0-3 to the Golden State Warriors. To get here, they rode the superstar ascension of Luka Dončić while dismantling a Utah Jazz team that quit well before the series was out of reach.

After the Mavericks avoided being swept out of the Western Conference finals by the Warriors, superstar Luka Doncic said he remains focused on winning the ...

"Everybody in that locker room feels like we have more basketball to play," said Mavs forward Dorian Finney-Smith, who had 23 points on 9-of-13 shooting. "We weren't sharp. "We got more to do, you know. We got three more." We're going to believe until the end." Dallas took a step in that direction with a 119-109 win in Tuesday's Game 4 at the American Airlines Center.

The Dallas Mavericks staved off elimination and avoided a series sweep in the Western Conference Finals, as Luka Doncic led his team to a 119-109 win over ...

"The next part is to find a way to win on the road. "This is one and, straight away, we've got to think of the next one. "That's how we've got to play; when we play like this, we're a dangerous team.

The Western Conference Finals will live to see at least one more game. And maybe even two or three more games. Reggie. Playing with a sense of urgency and a ...

“We just got to finish the game,” Doncic said. Now we just focus on the next game and nothing else.” Again, making shots is something we need those two to do and they did that tonight.” We had a pretty good lead and they had to make a decision and brought their group back in, and they couldn’t get it done.” “That’s who they are,” Kidd said, referring to Bullock and Kleber. “That’s their DNA. It’s not about just one game. Their starters had to come back in, they cut the lead and our group continued to play, but they had to make a decision and they had to put their guys back in. And because the Mavs got it done, they live to see another game. We did pretty good in the first three (quarters and) they went on a run to start the fourth. We just got to execute the game plan for 48 minutes.” “Making shots is something that we’ve done in those game, and then defensively being able to rebound the ball. It got so contagious that eight Mavs made at least one three-pointer as they had the Warriors spinning on a top trying to chase them down. In avoiding a sweep of this best-of-seven series, the Mavs now trail the Warriors, 3-1, but it is Golden State now feeling the pressure to close the series on its home court.

Once they did, they avoided a sweep and were still alive in the Western Conference finals. Doncic had 30 points and 14 rebounds, and the Mavericks beat Golden ...

After Doncic and Green stood in the lane together laughing about that, the ball was eventually knocked down. All others ahead of him are either in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, are still active players, or are retired and not yet eligible for Hall induction - such as Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki. One was dropping water near the Golden State bench, and at the other end of the court water appeared to be falling in the stands. Draymond Green went to the free throw line midway through the third quarter and his first attempt came to a complete stop on the wide back side of the rim. The moment also recognized a teacher-coach from Palestine, Texas, who was killed when his car was hit by a wrong-way driver when driving the just more than 100 miles home from Game 3 on Sunday night. It was the second such delay this season in the 21-year-old building. Golden State was up 31-29 after a jumper by Moses Moody, then had only one made basket the next seven minutes. A moment of silence just before tipoff came hours after an 18-year-old gunman opened fire at a Texas elementary school about 375 miles away in Uvalde, Texas, which is west of San Antonio in the southern part of the state. Only three of the 146 teams to fall in that deep hole have even been able to force a seventh game. The Mavericks have been swept in a best-of-seven only once in their 34 such series. But they never got closer even after Curry and other starters returned to the floor. ''Just got to finish the game.

DALLAS (AP) — Luka Dončić had 30 points and 14 rebounds, and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Golden State Warriors 119-109 on Tuesday night to avoid being ...

One was dropping water near the Golden State bench, and at the other end of the court water appeared to be falling in the stands. Draymond Green was fouled on the ensuing Golden State possession, and his first free throw attempt stopped on the wide back side of the rim. Only three of the 146 teams to fall in that deep hole have even been able to force a seventh game.

The Warriors were looking to get the Western Conference finals sweep Tuesday night. Instead, Dallas rained – literally and figuratively – on Golden State's ...

The win lets Luka Dončić & Co. live on for at least another two days. The Warriors were looking for a Western Conference finals sweep Tuesday night. Despite a fourth-quarter rally led by the Warriors’ rookies that cut the Mavericks’ lead to single digits, Dallas made a splash from deep and beat the Warriors 119-109.

DALLAS, TEXAS – MAY 24: Golden State Warriors' Nemanja Bjelica (8) guards against Dallas Mavericks' Luka Doncic (77) in the fourth quarter of Game 4 of ...

The win lets Luka Dončić & Co. live on for at least another two days. The Warriors were looking for a Western Conference finals sweep Tuesday night. Despite a fourth-quarter rally led by the Warriors’ rookies that cut the Mavericks’ lead to single digits, Dallas made a splash from deep and beat the Warriors 119-109.

The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Golden State Warriors 119-109 in Game 4 to stave off elimination for at least one more night. Luka Doncic led Dallas with ...

The team-wide three-point wave Dallas rode to an upset series victory over Phoenix only briefly showed its head in Game 2, only to abandon Dallas and leave them in a 3-0 hole. To Mavs’ fan's delight, Dallas played one of their best quarters of basketball in the third frame. It’s what made their faceplant in the fourth all the more frustrating. Both teams’ starters returned to the floor in a game that suddenly wasn’t as over as initially thought, but Dallas did enough to avoid any historic meltdowns and maintain their double-digit win. There was a downpour in Dallas Tuesday night, both inside and outside of the American Airlines Center. Outside, rain overran the AAC, causing a delay at halftime when the roof sprung a number of leaks. Dallas has held sizable leads in two of the three games they’ve lost this series.