DALLAS -- The Warriors' furious second-half rally Thursday night in Dallas came up short with Steph Curry failing to attempt a shot in the fourth quarter at American Airlines Center.
Per ESPN Stats & Info, it was just the third time in Curry's career that he played an entire quarter and didn't attempt a shot. It's the first time it happened in the fourth.
Credit the Mavericks' defense for making someone other than Curry beat them with the game on the line. The Mavs hard trapped Curry for most of the night and ramped that strategy up in the final frame of their 122-113 win, forcing Curry to give the rock up and asking Moses Moody, Jonathan Kuminga, Andrew Wiggins, and a rusty Klay Thompson to beat them.
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Head coach Steve Kerr credited Curry for making the right plays in the fourth quarter, noting the loss was on a defense that gave up 122 points and not Curry and the offense.
“They went after Steph," Kerr said after the loss. "Trapped him quite a bit. Steph did a great job of just getting the ball out of his hands. Guys made shots. Jordan made shots. Moses made shots. Offensively we did a pretty good job, shot 54 percent. Scored enough to win. But you’re not going to win if you give up 122 and 53 percent shooting. The defense was the main issue.”
Curry, who scored 21 points in the loss, admitted the Warriors could have done something else to combat the Mavericks' trapping in the fourth quarter. Plain and simple, having your best player give the ball up and not find a way to get it back can't be the answer, especially when you're fighting for what would have been a critical road win against a potential playoff foe.
“Obviously, I didn’t get a shot in the fourth," Curry said after the loss. "They were trapping all over the place, so I got to figure out something on that front. Moses played amazing coming in and giving us a spark in that fourth quarter. Moving the ball a little bit, maybe just get me off of it if they are going to resort to doubling at half court.”
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With the Mavericks swarming Curry in the fourth, the two-time MVP made the right basketball plays, dishing out five fourth-quarter assists. Three of those assists found Moody for eight of his 13 fourth-quarter points.
“It makes the game a lot easier for me when my guy is guarding Steph," Moody said after the game. "So just being able to take advantage of those opportunities and having a weapon like that on your team and being able to execute and to handle your business when you get the ball and get the opportunity.”
As for Thompson, the star shooting guard had a rough night in his first game back from an illness that forced him to miss two games. Thompson scored 16 points but was just 6-for-17 from the field and put the loss on his inability to hit shots when the ball found him off the Mavs' hard trap of Curry.
“I got to make some shots, man," Thompson said. "I can’t be air balling and shooting balls of the side of the backboard. It’s on me. I did not play well tonight."
The Warriors now have lost seven of their last nine games and are just 14-13 in their last 27. They put themselves behind the eight-ball with a porous defensive first half.
While the Warriors were unable to take out or make life hard on Luka Doncic on one end, the Mavs made sure the head of the Warriors' snake wouldn't plunge any daggers into their hearts Thursday night. The edict was clear: anyone but No. 30 is going to beat us.
Dallas issued a challenge to the non-Curry Warriors, and the Mavs' gambit paid off.
But should the Warriors meet the Mavs in the playoffs, expect Curry, Kerr, and the rest of the Warriors to have a different plan to combat one of the NBA's stingiest defenses in winning time.