Getty/Harry How Jason Kidd, head coach of the New Jersey Nets looks on with opposing coach Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors in Game One of the 2022 NBA Western Conference Finals at Chase Center in San Francisco.
The Dallas Mavericks finally were able to put one on the board, beating the Golden State Warriors 119-109 in what was a blowout for most of the game. The Dubs did manage to cut the deficit to single digits in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Mavs 39-20, but the Mavs were able to hold off the Warriors and force a Game 5 back in San Francisco.
Similar to Game 3, the Mavs didn’t change much of their gameplay. Superstar Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson continued to penetrate the Dubs defense at will, and create open looks for teammates around the perimeter. In Game 4, Dallas finished 20-of-43 from the perimeter. This was a drastic improvement from Game 3, where they went 13-of-45 from three. Much of the Mavs offense is predicated on being able to convert from downtown.
After the game, Mavs head coach Jason Kidd pointed out how the Warriors made their bed based on how much zone defense they played throughout the game. That opened up the Mavs to get countless open looks from all their role players, and they made the Dubs pay.
“They’re going to play zone for the majority of the game,” head coach Kidd says after Game 4. “That’s going to present problems for them in the sense of giving up threes, and we were able to capitalize on that tonight.”
Jason Kidd Thinks the Heavy Usage of Zone By Warriors Is Telling
Kidd continued and said with pride that a team like the Dubs have been trouble trying to stay in front of their guys on defense all series long.
“The biggest compliment we’ve gotten is that they have to play zone because they can’t play us 1-on-1. This [Warriors] is a championship DNA team, and they’re giving you a compliment that they can’t guard you. It’s pretty cool.”
Kidd is not just some random head coach. He is widely considered to have one of the brightest basketball minds in the league. The observation he makes about the Warriors playing so much zone has weight given how much trouble the Dubs have in dealing with the Mavs’ playmakers: Doncic, Brunson, and Spencer Dinwiddie.
Warriors Rookies Lead Late Rally
Down 29 going into the fourth quarter, there was no reason for the Warriors’ main guys to play the fourth in what seemed like an outcome that was already decided.
However, behind the backs of rookies Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody, the Dubs staged a comeback. Kuminga finished with 17 points and 8 rebounds in 22 minutes. Moody knocked down two corner threes to score a playoff career-high of 10 points.
After the Dubs cut the deficit around 10, the Dubs bought Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Andrew Wiggins back in the game to see if they could somehow finish a comeback.
“With about five minutes left, we cut it to 14 or so,” Kerr says after Game 4. “I looked at the other coaches, I looked at Steph and we just decided if it gets manageable and possible, then let’s do it. It felt like we had a shot with three-and-a-half minutes left when we put Steph and Klay and Wiggs in. I also felt like the group that had played that great run in the fourth quarter maybe was getting a little tired there, so just made the decision to see if we could pull off a miracle.”
The Warriors fell short and had to burn some energy out of three of their starters. However, the series shifts back to San Francisco, where the Warriors can punch a ticket to the NBA Finals with a win.