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A rare Saturday matinee and a trip to American Airlines Center wasn't enough to slow down the best team in basketball. Three Warriors scored 20-plus points for the first time this season and Golden State extended its franchise-best win streak to 15 with a wire-to-wire 105-98 road victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
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Steph Curry scored a game-high 29 points, Klay Thompson had 25 and Draymond Green netted 20 for the Warriors, who last had three players drop 20 points or more on April 1, 2013, in a 122-120 win over the Mavs.
The Warriors improved to 20-2 on the season. They haven't lost since Nov. 11.
Monta Ellis led Dallas with 24 points and Dirk Nowitzki had 23. Richard Jefferson, in his first start of the season, added 13 points and 13 rebounds.
The 3s were falling early for Golden State. Thompson hit a pair and Curry drained a stepback to help the Warriors to a 15-5 lead less than four minutes in.
The lead kept growing, with Curry following his deep 3 with a no-look pass to Shaun Livingston for a layup that pushed the spread to 30-13.
Curry put the finishing touches on a dominant first quarter with an acrobatic lefty layup in transition and a corner 3 with under a minute to play. His stepback 3-point try at the buzzer missed short, but he still dropped 13 and the Warriors led 39-18.
The lead grew to 28 before a mini rally late in the half had Dallas within 22, 66-44, at halftime.
An 11-1 Dallas run made things interesting early in the third. Tyson Chandler's alley-oop from Ellis near the midpoint of the period had Dallas within 13 before a 3 1/2 minute scoring drought plagued the hosts.
Green made five free throws and Curry got a runner to fall as Golden State restored its 20-point lead.
The Warriors went cold late in the game, and Brandan Wright scored seven of Dallas' points during a 11-0 run that made it 100-92. After Thompson made two free throws, Ellis hit a 3 and Dallas was within seven.
But it was too little too late. Curry's free throws with 39 seconds left proceeded a Jae Crowder missed 3-pointer, as the Warriors held on.
Game Notes
Golden State is the 12th team in NBA history to start 20-2 and first since the 2008-09 Celtics ... The Warriors have held every opponent under 50 percent shooting this season ... Green had one 20-point game in his first two NBA seasons. He has five already in 2014-15 ... Mavericks forward Chandler Parsons missed the game with lower back soreness ... Dallas shot 5-for-25 from behind the arc.
[SportsNetwork.com]
