Curry injures left leg leading Warriors to Mavs 119-113

SAN FRANCISCO – Stephen Curry had 21 points, seven assists and six rebounds before injuring his left leg defending a practice, and the Golden State Warriors beat Dallas 119-113 on Saturday night and the under-resourced team of Mavericks are missing injured star Luka Doncic.

The Warriors said Curry’s x-rays were negative and he would have an MRI scan.

Draymond Green added 17 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, while JaMychal Green scored 14 points and Jonathan Kuminga and Donte DiVincenzo each scored 13 in another great performance off the bench that helped Golden State take a lead of 40-23 after the first.

Spencer Dinwiddie scored 25 points, Tim Hardaway Jr. 22 and Dorian Finney-Smith 18 points to lead the Mavs, who had won two straight and three of four. They had won the last three against the Warriors and 10 of 12 overall in the series.

But Doncic is averaging 33.4 points, 8.9 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game for Dallas. He hurt his right heel in the third quarter of a 111-106 home win over New Orleans on Thursday night. Coach Jason Kidd said Doncic will also miss Monday’s game at Utah and then the team will see how he progresses.

The Warriors struggled to close the games and let the Mavericks close 116-111 on Hardaway’s 3-pointer with 1:28 to go, but managed even with the No. 30 watching.

Dinwiddie came into Doncic’s starting lineup and shot 9-for-17, receiving a technical at 6:10 of the first quarter after a deep offensive foul on him.

Green and Klay Thompson each started for the defending champions after entering the match listed as questionable, Green with a right calf tightness and Thompson a non-COVID illness. Thompson scored 14 points.

Dallas embarked on a second five-game road trip in about a month. It was the Mavs’ first visit to Chase Center since the Warriors advanced to the NBA Finals with a Game 5 win in their Western Conference Finals game.

Golden State hit 5 of its first 8 shots to take an 11-2 lead and force a Mavericks timeout at 2:36 into the game.

Dallas won the first meeting of this season 116-113 in November.

KUMINGA’S EXPLOIT

Sophomore forward Kuminga reached 1,000 points and at 20 years, 121 days became the youngest Warriors player in franchise history to reach the milestone.

ADVICE

Mavericks: With four interceptions, Dwight Powell passed Finney-Smith to move up to 14th on the team’s all-time list with 355. … F Davis Bertans, who came out Thursday with a strained left calf, should be absent until after the All-Star break. … F Christian Wood (fractured left thumb) has done well and will continue to improve in the fieldwork. … F/C Maxi Kleber (torn right hamstring) is improving and had a good rehab on Friday, Kidd said.

Warriors: Andrew Wiggins continues to progress after a difficult period in which he missed 15 games and then three more with both a strained thigh muscle and non-COVID illness. He returned for all three games of the recent road trip and coach Steve Kerr noted, “I think in the three games of the trip he was a lot more like himself physically and in terms of aggression. I expect him to continue like this, and then the shots will start coming. … Golden State had 16 points off the bench in the first quarter and led 40-23, with 12 assists on 17 field goals. The Warriors had 33 assists.

FOLLOWING

Warriors: Host Oklahoma City on Monday night after picking up seven straight and three straight wins at home against the Thunder.