Clay Thompson scored 32 points and the Golden State Warriors advanced to their sixth NBA Finals in eight seasons, beating the Dallas Mavericks 120-110 in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals on Thursday night.
Thompson scored 19 points in the first half, including a three-pointer, which he highlighted with a team shake of teammate Stephen Curry, while the Warriors raced to a 17-point lead at halftime and went the rest of the way. Andrew Wiggins added 18 points and 10 rebounds, Draymond Green scored 17 points and Curry scored 15 points and 9 assists for Golden State.
Luka Doncic overcame a slow start and scored 28 points for Mavericks. Spencer Dinuidi added 26.
After missing the playoffs in 2020 and 2021 in seasons chased from back to back, the Warriors are back on a familiar stage. They are the first team to make six final appearances in the eight years since the Michael Bull-led Chicago Bulls had a pair of three-fifths from 1991-93 and 1996-98.
Golden State will host the winner of the Eastern Conference Finals between Boston and Miami on June 2 in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. The Celtics lead 3-2 in game 6 at home on Friday night.
Golden State is already 9-0 at Chase Center this postseason, leveling the team for 2017 for the most consecutive home wins in a single postseason in NBA history.
The star of this match was Thompson, who missed the last two seasons with injuries, but showed glimpses of his old self in this clinch. After making just seven three-pointers in the first four games of the series, Thompson had eight in that game. He gave the Warriors a 13-point lead in the first half when he hit one of the corners before dancing and added two early in the third quarter for a 23-point lead.
Dallas reduced the deficit from 25 points to eight in the last minute of the third quarter, but failed to overcome the hump in the fourth.
Slow start
Doncic has usually been a star in the playoffs. His 32.7 points per game in his first 27 playoff games was the second best after Jordan’s 33.4 ppg among players with at least 10 playoff games.
But he had a rough start in this elimination match against Golden State. He shot 2 to 10 in the first quarter, with his eight misses tied for the most in the first quarter of the playoffs after LeBron James missed all nine of his attempts in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals against Atlanta in 2015.
Doncic was held on six points in the first half, his lowest starting half of his career since the season, shooting 2 to 12 before finding his shot in the third quarter.
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