SAN FRANCISCO — On a night that every Golden State Warriors player to play meaningful minutes scored in double figures, it was their defense that propelled them to a 112-87 win over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Wednesday.
Heading into this series, the Warriors were preaching a team-defense mentality. No one was going to be able to take on the task of the Mavericks, and particularly Luka Doncic, alone.
Still, someone had to take the brunt of that load. And it was Andrew Wiggins who was tasked with being the primary defender on Doncic.
The ultimate goal was never to stop Doncic — that’s nearly impossible — but to slow him, making sure everything he got was earned and not given. Wiggins came as close as one could.
All five of Doncic’s contested shots — he had one breakaway dunk for his sixth field goal — came against Wiggins, but Wiggins held Dallas’ star to 5-of-11 shooting. Wiggins also forced Doncic into three turnovers.
“He was moving them puppies tonight,” Klay Thompson said.
“That’s why he was the No. 1 pick. You can’t teach that athleticism. You can’t teach that length. You can’t teach his timing. I’m just happy the world is getting to see who he really is, and that’s an incredible wing player, and he will be like this for the next 10 years.”
Doncic finished with 20 points on 6-of-18 shooting, including 2-of-10 on contested shots. It was the third-lowest career scoring playoff game for Doncic and was just the third time out of 24 postseason games he failed to score more than 20 points.
“They were doing a great job on me, especially in the second half,” Doncic said. “But I think I’ve got to be better. That’s on me. As a leader, I’ve got to be better for the whole group, so that’s on me.”
Dallas coach Jason Kidd said: “They did a really good job, Wiggins picking him up full court. They were box-and-one, went zone. But they did a good job. Give them credit. Wiggins did a really good job….
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