The Warriors cut the Dallas Mavericks’ 17-game winning short. The seventh-longest streak in NBA history ended last night as Golden State pulled off a 117-100 victory Monday night.
For at least one night, the Warriors were far better than the NBA’s best team. The blowout win was a stunner for both Golden State and the Mavericks (52-10), who hadn’t lost since Jan. 25 at Chicago.
The Mavs floundered offensively and played awful defense against the Warriors’ up-tempo offense, falling behind by 17 in the first half and 29 in the third quarter.
The Mavericks are the first club in NBA history with three winning streaks of 12 games or longer in the same season, but they’ll have to start another one Wednesday night in a showdown with Phoenix, which also won 17 straight earlier this year.
Eight players scored at least eight points for Golden State, including 16 apiece from Stephen Jackson, Al Harrington, Andris Biedrins and Jason Richardson.
The Warriors improbably have been the Mavericks’ toughest regular-season opponent recently, and they played perhaps their best game of the season while winning for the fourth time in five games overall to stay in the playoff race despite their 30-36 record.