By Ben Stein
OAKLAND – During the course of an 82-game season in the NBA, great teams occasionally rely on role players to make a difference in games.
It took just 21 minutes for Warriors forward Jonas Jerebko to make that difference Saturday night, as the Warriors defeated the Mavericks 120-116 at Oracle Arena.
“I got some easy buckets, lay-ins, just trying to crash the glass and then running the floor my teammates found me early,” Jerebko said.
Jerebko finished the game with a career-high 23 points on just 12 field goal attempts. He added four offensive rebounds and a much-needed spark off the bench.
“He just knows how to play,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “He’s always going full speed with offensive rebounds and his ability to step in and take a charge. He’s a good basketball player, he understands the game and brings great energy when he gets out there.”
Warriors all-star forward Draymond Green’s lack of scoring was a topic of discussion before the game because he had made just one three pointer in his previous four games. However, the versatile forward quieted critics by hitting his first two threes of the night.
“The first time, their bench yelled, ‘Stay back.’ No, you’d better come up,” Green said after the game. “On the second one it was like, ‘Stay back.’ I said, ‘It’s going to be a long night for you, champ.’”
The third time Green caught the ball beyond the arc he pump faked, watched his defender leap past him and drove to the basket where he found an open teammate. Green finished the first quarter with eight points.
For the Mavericks, It was rookie guard Luka Dončić who provided early entertainment. Dončić scored 14 of the Mavericks’ 31 first quarter points, including hitting all three of his 3-point attempts.
“That dude’s good. He’s gonna be a problem. He’s already a problem,” Green said.
Jerebko scored nine of his 23 points in the third quarter, the turning point in the game, as Golden State outscored Dallas by 10 points.
“It felt good, Jerebko said. “I had that breakaway dunk that gave us like an 11 or 13-point lead. We really needed that push.”
The Warriors are no stranger to explosive quarters following halftime. Golden State averages the second most third quarter points in the NBA with 29.6 third quarter points per game, trailing only Toronto (29.7), according to NBA Stats.
The game stayed close throughout the game because of a 25-point performance by Mavericks guard Wesley Matthews. The 10th year wing hit seven shots from beyond the arc including some clutch fourth quarter shots.
The Warriors four all-stars from last season, Green, small forward Kevin Durant, point guard Steph Curry and shooting guard Klay Thompson combined for 79 points, 32 rebounds and 22 assists, but it was the 28th (out of 30) ranked bench that proved to be the difference.
The Warriors outscored the Mavericks by 14 points when Jerebko, forward Andre Iguodala, point guard Shaun Livingston were on the court.
The Warriors improved to 22-11 on the season and the team is just one game back of Denver for first place in the Western Conference. But Golden State will need more games like this one from Jerebko and the rest of the bench if it hopes to pass the Nuggets.
“[Jerebko] is a big part of what we do,” Curry said. “He’s very versatile in terms of what he can offer. He can shoot the ball very well and he’s pretty smart on defense in being in the right position and sacrificing his body.”
