This is Wiggins' moment: Curry

SAN FRANCISCO • Luka Doncic outscored Andrew Wiggins 20-19 in their head-to-head match-up in Game 1 of their National Basketball Association (NBA) Western Conference Finals series on Wednesday. However, there was no doubt who the winner was.

Wiggins harassed the Dallas Mavericks star into his lowest output of the post-season, and the Golden State Warriors countered with a balanced and high-percentage offensive attack en route to a 112-87 shellacking in the opening game of the best-of-seven series.

Game 2 is scheduled for today, also in San Francisco, where Golden State, seeking their sixth trip to the NBA Finals in the past eight years, have gone 7-0 so far in the play-offs.

"We did what we were supposed to do - protect home court, win the first game," said Warriors star Stephen Curry, who led all scorers with 21 points. "We had a specific game plan coming in, and for the most part, we executed it. It's going to take that same effort three more times to beat this team."

The game plan featured handcuffing Doncic on one end and attacking him on the other. It was a two-way success.

After having averaged 29 points on 46.9 per cent shooting in the opening round against the Utah Jazz, the Slovenian guard then stepped up to average 32.6 points on 47.6 per cent shooting in the semi-finals against the Phoenix Suns, eliminating the top seeds in the West.

On Wednesday, though, he was held four points below his previous low this post-season while hitting just six of his 18 shots. He was not alone in his offensive miseries.

The Mavericks shot just 36 per cent overall and 22.9 per cent on three-point attempts, missing 37 of 48.

"They did a great job," Doncic said of the Warriors. "Of course, we could do things better. In the first quarter, we had a lot of good looks. The second quarter, too. But not in the second half."

Taking advantage of Dallas' poor shooting, Golden State did not trail over the final 45 minutes while taking a 1-0 lead for the third consecutive time this post-season.

All seven Warriors who played at least 13 minutes scored in double figures, including Jordan Poole, who contributed 19 points, while Klay Thompson had 15, and Draymond Green, Kevon Looney and Otto Porter Jr scored 10 each.

Golden State shot 56.1 per cent from the field and also had a 51-35 rebound advantage.

Afterwards, the talk was focused on one man: Wiggins, the 2014 NBA No. 1 draft pick who was traded by the Minnesota Timberwolves two years ago.

"He's just showing everybody what he's capable of," Curry said. "He stepped up. I'm happy for him. Eight years in the league. This is his moment."

Dallas remain confident of bouncing back - this was their third successive Game 1 series loss.

"It's one game," Doncic said. "That's what the play-offs are all about. If you lose by one or by 40, it's just a loss."

REUTERS