Tough but Mavs will 'stick together'

DALLAS • No team in the 75-year history of the National Basketball Association (NBA) have ever come back from 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven play-off series.

But after Tuesday's performance, the Dallas Mavericks have hope, even though the Western Conference Finals now head back to California with the Golden State Warriors needing just one win from three remaining games to advance to the NBA Finals.

Luka Doncic scored 30 points as the hosts won 119-109. The All-Star guard, who has carried the scoring burden for Dallas in the three previous losses, finally received support from his teammates.

Five other Mavs players finished in double figures, with Dorian Finney-Smith adding 23 points, Reggie Bullock 18, Jalen Brunson 15, Maxi Kleber 13 and Spencer Dinwiddie 10.

However, it was the team's defensive display, which restricted Golden State's leading scorer Stephen Curry to just 20 points, that most impressed Doncic.

"Our defence was amazing today," said the Slovenian, who also had 14 rebounds and nine assists.

"That's how we've got to play, when we play like this we're a dangerous team."

Asked if he felt the Mavs could still salvage a series victory, Doncic replied: "You never know. We're going to stick together. It's going to be tough, we know that but we have to stay together."

Still, Dallas coach Jason Kidd admitted the odds did not favour his team, who are only one defeat away from elimination.

"We believe it's just one game at a time, we did our part tonight and found a way to win tonight," he said. "The next part is to find a way to win on the road.

"We can't get ahead of ourselves. It's still 3-1 and Golden State is a tough place to play. But we've won there before. We just have to take care of the ball and make shots."

After being outplayed in the first three games by the six-time NBA champions, who are seeking to make their sixth NBA Finals in eight seasons, Dallas came out with a renewed sense of purpose at the American Airlines Centre.

The Mavs led by 15 points at half-time after cutting loose midway through the second quarter with a 19-2 run that propelled them into a double-digit lead.

Golden State struggled to make inroads into that deficit and were successful on only three of 16 attempts from three-point range.

The Mavs, by contrast, drained 11-of-23 from beyond the arc in the first half, a statistic that helped them to a 62-47 half-time lead.

Dallas were 99-70 in front heading into the fourth quarter, and although the Warriors' bench players trimmed the lead to just eight points, Doncic reasserted control to see off their opponents.

"It felt like we had a shot," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of the fourth-quarter rally. "But it wasn't meant to be, Dallas was great tonight and deserved to win. They played with more force. This is the Conference Finals and that's how it's supposed to be. And they handled us well tonight."

Game 5 will be held in San Francisco today.

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