Steph Curry, Golden State Warriors face mammoth task in Dallas Mavericks doubleheader
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Thursday 4 February 2021 18:02, UK
The Golden State Warriors embark on one of the most unusual road trips in franchise history and do so without any centers on their roster, as they visit the Dallas Mavericks and Luka Doncic on Thursday night.
The Warriors landed in Dallas yesterday to begin a seven-day stay in the state of Texas, one in which they will visit only two cities. After battling the Mavericks on Thursday and Saturday night, they move on to San Antonio to face the Spurs in consecutive games on Monday and Tuesday.
Steve Kerr's team are coming off a 111-107 home loss to the Boston Celtics on Tuesday, a game in which starting center Kevon Looney sustained a left ankle sprain that is expected to keep him out at least two weeks.
Live NBA: Golden State @ Dallas 04.02
Golden State were already missing Marquese Chriss, who broke his right leg early in the season, and the rookie James Wiseman, who sprained his left wrist during the Warriors' win over the Detroit Pistons on Saturday.
The remaining Warriors center options are all undersized forwards: 6-foot-6 Draymond Green, 6-6 Eric Paschall and 6-6 Juan Toscano-Anderson, who had been inactive 11 times in Golden State's previous 14 games before earning a spot on the end of the bench Tuesday with Wiseman unavailable.
The inexperienced Toscano-Anderson was pressed into 27 minutes of action against the Celtics, and he equalled his career-high in points (16) and 3-pointers (three).
"I am always prepared," the former four-year Marquette player said after the game. "I am a position-less player."
"My goal is to earn the trust of Steve (Kerr, the head coach,) and the rest of the coaching staff. Wherever he puts me in to plug a hole, that's where I am going to try to be effective. Whether that is initiating the offense, defending the point guard, playing center... I just want to be effective wherever he puts me. I am ready for whatever."
In this case, Toscano-Anderson should probably be prepared for the 7-foot-3 Kristaps Porzingis, who contributed 24 points and 11 rebounds to Dallas' 122-116 win at Atlanta on the front end of a back-to-back on Wednesday.
The injury-prone Porzingis hasn't always played back-to-backs this season, so he is no certainty for the Thursday contest. He sat out Dallas' Saturday home loss to Phoenix under similar circumstances after having played the night before at Utah.
However, unlike the Warriors, the Mavericks have legitimate center options should they decide to rest Porzingis again.
Willie Cauley-Stein, who started 37 games for Golden State last season and has started 10 of 22 for Dallas this season, would be an option, as would lesser-used backup Boban Marjanovic.
The 7-foot-4 Serbian center is essentially unguardable in the paint due to his sheer size and strength. His career PER (Player Efficiency Rating) of 26 would put him seventh all-time if he met the minimum number of minutes required to qualify, just behind the likes of Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Wilt Chamberlain.
The problem is that Marjanovic is forced to play extremely sporadically because, just as nobody can stop him, he can't stop anyone else either, being too slow to guard the pick and roll in any kind of sustainable manner.
That being said, with the small-sized Warriors in town, Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle may choose to use the player affectionately known only as 'Boban' in spurts to feast under the basket.
The teams haven't met this season after the Mavericks crushed the Warriors in three straight last season, winning by an average of 31.7 points. Luka Doncic averaged 28.7 points, 10.0 rebounds and 9.3 assists in those games. Porzingis saw action in two of the contests, going for 16 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.
Doncic amassed 27 points, 14 assists and eight rebounds Wednesday against the Hawks as Dallas snapped a six-game losing streak.
