NBA Matchups: May 18

Dallas Mavericks at Golden State Warriors

Team totals: Mavericks 104.5, Warriors 110

Injury report: Tim Hardaway Jr. (O, foot), Gary Payton II (O, arm), Andre Iguodala (O, neck)

Mavericks projected starters: Luka Doncic, Jalen Brunson, Reggie Bullock, Dorian Finney-Smith, Dwight Powell

Warriors projected starters: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, Kevon Looney

Season offensive ranks: Warriors 17th, Mavericks 12th (Warriors 12th in halfcourt, Mavs 2nd)

Season defensive ranks: Warriors 2nd, Mavericks 8th (Warriors 3rd in halfcourt, Mavericks 11th)

Postseason offensive ranks: Warriors 6th, Mavericks 3rd (Warriors 3rd in halfcourt, Mavericks 1st)

Postseason defensive ranks: Warriors 7th, Mavericks 5th (Warriors 9th in halfcourt, Mavericks 11th)

Season series: 3-1 Mavericks

Noteworthy missed games: Tim Hardaway Jr. (2 missed games), Spencer Dinwiddie (2 missed games as a Mav), Maxi Kleber (1), Draymond Green (3), Klay Thompson (2), Otto Porter (1)

Kidd quotes: Said the guys came out ready and executed the game plan, said the Suns felt the pressure and they didn’t, said Dinwiddie was the “X factor” with his scoring, said Luka gets bigger and better when it counts, said they went with Bullock more on Booker to give the Suns a different look, said listening to Luka and trying to have fun was helpful for winning games.

Kerr quotes: Said Otto Porter went through practice and is probable, said the biggest challenges of guarding Dallas are so much shooting with three playmakers (Luka, Spencer, Jalen), said they really have to guard the ball because the help is so hard to bring because of all the shooting, said he’s expecting the Mavs to target Curry and Poole, said they are going to have to “adapt and adjust” through the series, said “I see victory” when Draymond attacks the basket, said Wiggins has another level and his rebounding and defense have expanded, said they want Wiggins to attack the rim a little more, said the Mavs have a “modern-day” defensive lineup, said the Dallas continuity is special (mentioned Kleber and DFS), said Looney “will play a big role” and he played well against Dallas in the regular season, said he’s not even going to bring up turnovers and hope he has a Constanza-like impact with it being the opposite.

Injury notes:

Otto Porter Jr. – It sounds like he’s going to be good to go here. However, Otto has suffered a lot of injuries in his career, so he might have a soft cap on him. 

Tim Hardaway Jr. – He is expected to get some cutting in this week, which suggests he’s not going to be ready for this round.

Gary Payton II – He’s only a long shot to play, per Kerr. He was not doing anything with his broken arm at practice on Tuesday, so at best you’d think he could be ready for Game 6.

Stats and Notes: