Career-High of Oubre Jr. with 40 points, Dubs leads in 147-116 Shootout victory over Mavs

Kelly Oubre Jr. chose a good time to get the hot hand. The Warriors entered the game against the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday without any of their centers as James Wiseman, Kevon Looney, Marquese Chriss and Eric Paschall due to injuries, but Oubre’s best 40-point night beat the squad over the Mavs in a 147- 116 road victory on Thursday evening.

Oubre’s score was stubborn, but it took a team effort for the Warriors to blow the game wide open with a 36-point third quarter, including a 21-6 run by five minutes of the frame. There were some huge plays during that time, including a Draymond Green bounce pass to Stephen Curry who cut through the back door for a reverse lay-up, as well as a strong Damion Lee finish by Dallas’ Luka Doncic and Dwight Powell as he pulled the foul .

That blowout from the Dubs was pivotal as play was tight for the first 24 minutes of the game.

The Mavericks, who came last in the NBA in the game with a percentage of three points (32.7 percent), splashed 15 treys over the Dubs in the first two quarters. Jalen Brunson, the thirty-third overall pick of the 2020 NBA Draft, had 17 points on three three-pointers during the first half, while Tim Hardaway Jr. made three of his five triples in the night in a three-minute period.

The one thing that kept the Dubs in play was Oubre’s early 23 points and the squad’s ability to beat a bigger Dallas team 26-16 in the paint. The Warriors found themselves at the halfway mark 76-74.

But the team came out strong in the second half, beating the Mavericks 73-40 to seal their victory in the first game of their four-game road trip.

Green scored his second double-double of the season with 15 nights to go with 11 points. Twice in the match, he managed to thread the needle to find a cutting Curry: once in the aforementioned third-quarter run, and earlier in the match as well.

Thursday marked the first game in which Curry didn’t lead the Warriors in scoring this season, but he still managed to put in a cool 28 runs with four three-pointers.

Speaking of splashes, Damion Lee and Mychal Mulder played big off-bench roles in the Dubs’ high-scoring night, as they totaled 29 points with 7-of-11 three pointers.

Juan Toscano-Anderson was moved up to starting five due to the Warriors’ injury problems with their bigs. After drawing his career-high of 16 points against the Boston Celtics, he continued to produce with a solid all-round line in 40 minutes with 14 points (including two splashes), eight rebounds, five assists and two blocks.

Next one: These two squads are back at it right away as they complete the back-to-back set on Saturday (5:30 pm, ABC). The Warriors split their first two two-game series of the season before playing their last home game against the Minnesota Timberwolves last week.

More notables …

• The Warriors improved to 4-5 on the road this season, winning nine of their last 12 games in Dallas.
• Golden State scored 147 points a season high (previously: 137, twice) … For tonight, the last time the Warriors scored 147 points in a game 1/16/19, a 147-140 victory vs. . NO P.
• The Warriors recorded season highs of 57.3 percent from the field (previously: .557, 1/3 vs. POR) and 51.2 percent from three-point series (previously: .535, 1/4 vs. SAC).
• The Warriors used their fifth different starting line-up of the season, with Andrew Wiggins (6’7 ”) as their tallest player available to play in the game.
• Golden State improves to 10-0 this season by scoring at least 110 points; 6-0 when shooting at least 50 percent from the field and handing out at least 30 assists.
• The Warriors surpassed the Mavericks 45-42 and improved to 7-0 this season when they pitted their opponent.
• For the first time since January 8, 1991, Golden State scored at least 35 points in all four quarters of a game vs. Denver (ESPN Stats & Info).
• The Warriors’ 74 points in the first half are the highest they have scored in any half this season.
• Golden State gave Dallas 42 points in the second quarter, the highest of all opponents this season in any quarter (previous 41 by Chicago in the third quarter on 12/27/20) … quarter since the Mavericks scored 45 points in the third quarter against the Warriors on 12/28/19.
• The Warriors hit a seasonal low of eight (previous low: 10 at 21-1 vs. NYK).
• Golden State improved to 2-0 on 35-plus assists and 7-2 this season on 30 or more assists (37 tonight).
• The 22 threes of the Warriors were one shy of their season high score of 23 on 1/4 vs. SAC … Golden State improved to 3-0 this season when they sank more than 20 shots from three-point range.
• For the second time this season, all five of the Warriors’ starters scored double digits (previously: 1/10/21 vs. Toronto).
• Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 40 points in his career (14-21 FG, 7-10 3P, 5-6 FT) … Tonight marked the fifth time in his career with 30 or more points … He scored 22 points in the first half, corresponding to his career highs for points in the half (22 in the second half, Phoenix vs. Houston, 2/7/20). Made his 450th career three-pointer, sinking a career-high pairing seven threes (third time) … Oubre Jr. is the fifth Warriors player since 2014-15 to score 40 points in a match, along with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant and D’Angelo Russell (ESPN Stats & Info).
• Stephen Curry scored 20 points in the first half, which is the 11th time this season that he has scored 20 or more points in a half … Curry also recorded his ninth game in a row with four or more threes (career-best streak is 12).
• Draymond Green scored his second double-double of the season, posting 11 points and a season-high 15 assists, one shy of his career-high score of 16 assists (done three times) … Tonight was the third time this season recorded double-digit assists.
• Juan Toscano-Anderson started his third game of the season, ninth of his career … In his starts, the Warriors are 3-0 this season and 6-3 all time … Toscano-Anderson finished with 14 points and scored in the double digits for the second game in a row (two points shy to match his career high of 16) … he equaled career-highs in the following categories, rebounds (eight), field goals (six), assists (five) and blocks (two).
• Damion Lee scored a season with 17 points and led all reserves … He has an average of 14.3 points per game over the last three games.