Warriors went ultra small and still dominated Mavericks in the paint

The Golden State Warriors were forced to go with an ultra-small ball lineup Thursday night, but you wouldn’t know it based on the stats in the paint.

The Golden State Warriors easily handled the Dallas Mavericks 147-116 on Thursday night, led by a career-high 40 points from Kelly Oubre, 28 points from Stephen Curry and a double-double (11 points and 15 assists) from Draymond Green.

With injuries thinning the roster, the Warriors dressed just nine players for Thursday night’s game. With James Wiseman (left wrist), Kevon Looney (left ankle) and Eric Paschall (knee) out, the 6-foot-7 inch Andrew Wiggins was the tallest player among the available nine for coach Steve Kerr.

The two teams combined for 93 3-point attempts, so there was plenty of fast-paced perimeter action on Thursday night. But the Warriors, against all logic, dominated the paint.

The Warriors controlled Mavericks all-around with their “dearth” lineup

Golden State fit their usual mode by making more than half of their 3-pointers (22-for-43) against the Mavericks, led by Oubre (7-for-10) and Curry (4-for-10). But they also out-rebounded Dallas 45-42, and outscored them 54-36 in the paint. No one had more than eight rebounds, so it was a well-balanced effort on the glass. Runs to end the third quarter and start the fourth created a lead and put the game away, which led to the Mavericks emptying their bench in the fourth quarter.

Green functioned as the center for the Warriors’ “dearth” lineup, with the aforementioned double-double along with six rebounds and just one turnover. After the game Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle called Green “a point guard, an unusual point guard-power forward.”

The Warriors have won in untraditional ways plenty of times over recent years. So Thursday night is just the latest chapter of that book, where necessity becomes the mother of invention and the talent makes it work out.