Warriors beat Dallas to seal home court for NBA play-offs
Golden State roll over the Mavericks and are now just one win away from owning the best record in the NBA for the first time since 1976
The "Splash Brothers" had a little help from the big guys, and the Golden State Warriors had a little present for record-setting coach Steve Kerr.
Klay Thompson scored 21 points, Marreese Speights and Andre Iguodala had 18 apiece with a little long-range work to make Stephen Curry proud and the Warriors clinched home-court advantage throughout the play-offs while winning their 12th straight game, 123-110 over the Dallas Mavericks.
Those guys were. They presented me the ball, and how lucky am I to coach these guys in my first year? Ridiculous
Golden State (63-13) need one more victory to assure finishing with the best record in the NBA for the first time since 1975-76, but hold the tiebreaker on Atlanta for the top overall seeds.
Kerr doesn't have to wait for the NBA mark for wins by a first-year coach. The victory pushed him past Paul Westphal (Phoenix in 1992-93) and Chicago's Tom Thibodeau (2010-11). The players gave Kerr the game ball and a Gatorade bath.
"Great scene in there, and I wasn't really thinking about the significance of the record," Kerr said. "Those guys were. They presented me the ball, and how lucky am I to coach these guys in my first year? Ridiculous."
Dirk Nowitzki had 18 points to lead the Mavericks, who lost for the sixth time in eight games but are close to securing the seventh seeds in the Western Conference.
Dallas, already without Chandler Parsons because of right knee soreness, lost point guard Rajon Rondo to a left knee injury in the third quarter. Rondo, acquired in a trade with Boston in December, missed large parts of two seasons with the Celtics because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
