Curry injures left leg leading Warriors over Mavs 119-113

Stephen Curry went down and the Golden Warriors once again had to fight like crazy to close out a game.

Curry had 21 points, seven assists and six rebounds before injuring his left leg defending a drive late in the third quarter, and the defending NBA champions defeated Dallas 119-113 on Saturday night and the undermanned Mavericks team was missing injured star Luka Doncic.

The Warriors said X-rays for Curry were negative, and he will have an MRI exam.

“Any time a guy’s going to get an MRI there’s a concern level, for sure,” coach Steve Kerr said. “So we’ll just have to wait and see the results.”

Draymond Green added 17 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, while JaMychal Green scored 14 points and Jonathan Kuminga and Donte DiVincenzo each had 13 in another big performance by the bench that helped Golden State build a 40-23 lead after the first.

Then, the Warriors had to hold on at the end again.

 “I think when we get down the stretch we stop doing the things that worked,” Draymond Green said. “When you have something that works all game long you don’t go away from it.”

Spencer Dinwiddie scored 25 points, Tim Hardaway Jr. 22 and Dorian Finney-Smith 18 points to lead the Mavs, who had won two straight and three of four. They had won the last three facing the Warriors and 10 of 12 overall in the series.

But Doncic accounts for 33.4 points, 8.9 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game for Dallas. He bruised his right heel in the third quarter of 111-106 home victory against New Orleans on Thursday night. Coach Jason Kidd said Doncic also would miss Monday’s game at Utah then the team would see how he’s progressing.

The Warriors have struggled closing out games and let the Mavericks get within 116-111 on Hardaway’s 3-pointer with 1:28 left but pulled it off even with No. 30 watching.

“I’m thrilled with the win, but I’m disappointed with the way we closed the game so we’ve got to do better,” Kerr said.

Dinwiddie moved into the starting lineup for Doncic and shot 9 for 17, receiving a technical at the 6:10 mark of the opening quarter after an offensive foul called against him.

Draymond Green and Klay Thompson each started for the defending champions after coming into the game listed as questionable; Green with a right calf tightness and Thompson a non-COVID illness. Thompson scored 14 points.

Dallas began a second five-game road trip in about a month. It marked the Mavs’ first visit to Chase Center since the Warriors advanced to the NBA Finals with a Game 5 win in their Western Conference final matchup.

Golden State made 5 of its first 8 shots to jump ahead 11-2 and force a Mavericks timeout 2:36 into the game.

Dallas won the first meeting this season 116-113 in November.