California Sports Journal

The Dallas Mavericks continued their red-hot roll through the Western Conference at the Warriors’ expense Tuesday night, winning 114-107 behind 35 points and 11 rebounds from All-Star forward Dirk Nowitzki.

For the Warriors, it was another tough loss to an elite team. The Warriors fought back from a 67-52 halftime deficit and used a 14-1 third quarter run to go up 88-86 to start the fourth quarter. It was the highest point total after three quarters for the Warriors this year, who were led by 26 points from Jason Richardson.

But all night, the Warriors defense looked debilitated by the loss of Cliff Robinson, who was traded to the New Jersey Nets Monday for two second-round draft picks.

“Offensively, we pretty much did anything we wanted, all night long,” said Nowitzki. “To me, we made it a lot harder on ourselves than it should have been. It should have been an easy night for us.”

Two months earlier, the veteran forward Robinson led the Warriors to 111-107 road victory in Dallas, racking up a season-high 25 points. Though Robinson was only averaging 8.6 points per game, it was Robinson’s defense that the Warriors will miss most. For much of the game, the undersized Mike Dunleavy was matched up against Nowitzki, who was 10 for 17 from the field and 15 of 18 from the line.

Prior to the game, Warriors coach Mike Montgomery said that Dunleavy would be seeing more time at the power forward position, with starter Troy Murphy injured and Robinson shipped off to the Nets.

“I think he’s a poor man’s Nowitzki,” Montgomery said of his often-criticized forward, the third overall pick in the 2001 draft.

Dunleavy finished with 18 points, and nearly stole the ball from Nowitzki with less than a minute to play and the Warriors trailing 108-105. Dunleavy was called for a foul, and the Warrior fans jeered, but Nowitzki went on to ice the game by converting both free throws.

Warriors’ players could be heard grumbling about the officiating in the locker room after the game.

“I’m not going to get fined because of you people,” said Montgomery, referring to reporters, when asked his opinion on the calls against his team. “But you watch the game and figure it out.”

Montgomery said he was pleased to see the team fight back after a lackluster start. “We had difficulty finding the intensity we needed early on, once we figured out what we needed we were able to come back and get the lead,” he said.

Speedy Claxton added 23 points, including 13 in the first quarter, to go with nine assists and three steals.

For Dallas, it was the third road win in a row, after beating Sacramento and Seattle. “It wasn’t easy,” Nelson said of the Mavs’ win. “But we’ll take the win and move on...Now it’s on to Phoenix to sweep the trip.”