(Basketball news) The Golden State Warriors produced an empathic performance to beat the Dallas Mavericks 112-87 in game 1 of the Western Conference finals. For the Warriors, Curry had 21 points and a game-high 12 rebounds as Wiggins added 19 points, making six of his first eight shots on the way to shooting 8 for 17. Jordan Poole also scored 19 off the bench and Thompson scored all of his 15 points after halftime.. For the Mavericks, Doncic scored 20 points but shot just 6 for 18 and 3 of 10 from deep as Jalen Brunson scored 14 points but missed all five of his 3s. With this result the Warriors take the lead in a best of seven series as they now face them on 20th May in the Chase Arena in San Francisco. 

The Warriors reached five straight NBA Finals from 2015-19 but missed the playoffs the past two years before this run as they look ever determined to get to the NBA finals this year. Luka Doncic appeared to be nursing some kind of injury which he might have sustained during the intense 7 game series against the Phoenix Suns. Doncic, who was averaging 31.5 points in the playoffs, was a tall task for the Warriors defence to manage him but they were up for the task as they had already handled two-time reigning MVP Nikola Jokic of Denver in the first round, then Ja Morant early last series before his knee injury. The Mavericks need Luka Doncic fit and firing as their first final since 2011 rests on his shoulders.

''Just make him work, that was the main thing,'' Wiggins said.

''A great job. That's it,'' Doncic said. ''They did a great job.''

''They did a really good job. Wiggins picked him up full court,'' Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. ''They went box-and-one, they went zone. We understood coming into the series that we were going to see that. We'll go back and look at the video and see what we can do better.''

''I thought Wiggs was fantastic,'' coach Steve Kerr said. ''Doncic is as difficult a cover as there is in this league. … It's important to make him work. He's so good. Any great player in the league you're trying to limit the damage that they do.''

''It is how we play,'' Curry said. ''When you have that ability to create separation like we did in the third quarter, it's a fun way to play.''

''I didn't have a field goal in the first half but that will never discourage me,'' Thompson said. ''I will always hunt my shot.''

''It was great to be back. I missed being out there with the guys,'' Kerr said. ''Amazing atmosphere here at Chase and we're excited to keep going.''

''We would like to play our pace but the Warriors have a unique pace, they're going to get out and put a lot of pressure on your defence in transition,'' Kidd said. ''We have to be cautious of that. We don't want a track meet.''

Also read: NBA: Miami Heat draws first blood in the Eastern Conference final