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Chris Tuite/ALOST

akoiki-passport2 – by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief

SAN FRANCISCO — Struggling with his shot for almost the entire first half on Sunday, Mavericks forward Luka Doncic raised his hands to the air and shook his head after making a three-pointer in the third quarter, finally feeling relief but still staring at a near-impossible task for the remainder of the contest.

Once more, however, Doncic made the near-impossible a formality, and the even the Golden State Warriors, imperious as they are when playing in the Bay Area, were spared no relief from Luka Magic.

Doncic scored 22 of his 34 points in the second half, and his free throws with 7.9 seconds remaining cemented the Mavericks’ 107-101 come-from-behind victory against the Warriors at the Chase Center on Sunday night. New acquisition Spencer Dinwiddie played Robin to Doncic’s Batman, scoring 10 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter as the Mavericks came back from a 21-point deficit to pull off the unexpected victory.

Golden State entered the night winning its last 62 games it had played when building a lead of at least 20 points, and when Steph Curry nailed a three-pointer at the 8:25 mark of the third quarter to give the Warriors a 73-52 lead, that streak appeared to be as secure as Alcatraz to potential escapees from the famous prison island located just 14 miles away from the arena.

But led by Doncic and Dinwiddie, the Mavericks ended the game on a 32-8 run, with the pair combining for 19 of the team’s 33 points in the fourth quarter. After a 3-for-10 first half shooting, Luka made seven of his final 11 shots, and grabbed eight of his 11 rebounds in the game’s final 24 minutes.

In his first game after winning All-Star MVP honors, Curry finished with 27 points and 10 assists, while fellow All-Star Andrew Wiggins ended with 18 points — 11 of those coming in the first quarter. Curry made just two of his eight shots from the field in the final frame — and 1-of-5 from three-point range — as Golden State managed to score just 13 points.

The defeat is the second big lead the Warriors have blown at home in their last two home games, as the Nuggets came back from a 16-point second-half deficit to defeat Golden State on a buzzer-beating three by Monte Morris.

*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Sunday evening’s game, with all photos taken by Bay Area-based photographer Chris Tuite. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 49 pictures in total.

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Tags : Dallas MavericksGolden State WarriorsLuka DoncicNBASteph Curry

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