Before referee, Ed Malloy tossed the ball into the air at American Airlines Arena for the opening tip, the Golden State Warriors were behind against the Dallas Mavericks.
Former Defensive Player of the Year, Draymond Green was ruled out before the start of the Warriors second stop in a road back-to-back bringing Golden State’s healthy player count down to eight against the Mavericks— a season-low for the injury-laden Dubs.
The Warriors-Mavericks game started with Green’s injury announcement and ended with a 142-94 win in favor of the home team.
The thin Warriors rotation didn’t hold back the Mavericks from stepping on the peddle, behind their Slovenian star showing why he’s the talk of the town.
Luka Doncic blitzed the Warriors from the first quarter on, recording a triple-double without even playing in the fourth quarter. The reigning Rookie of the Year tallied 35 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds in only 25-minutes— the shortest 35-point triple-double in NBA history.
The second-year phenom, outscored Golden State alone in the first quarter, 22-16. For the first half, he dropped 33 points while the entire Warriors team only scored 38 going into the locker room.
Luckily for Golden State, as bad as it was, this wasn’t there worst all-time loss. Back in 1972, the Warriors lost by a whopping 63-points to the Lakers, It’s tough to find positives in a 48-loss, but here we are.
Similar to the rest of the season, Golden State was led by a pair of rookies who are making a case to be a part of the team’s future plans.
Undrafted Boston College product, Ky Bowman, started at point-guard and continued to prove he belongs in the NBA. Bowman controlled the game on the offensive side for Golden State, scoring 16-points, dishes out a pair of dimes, with no turnovers.
Eric Paschall added another solid game to his rookie campaign leading Golden State with 22 points and seven rebounds.
The Warriors now head to Utah to cap off their four-game road swing against the 8-5 Jazz. Getting his young roster to respond to the worst loss of his coaching tenure with a step in the right direction will be Coach Steve Kerr’s next big challenge.
