KEY POINTS
- Andrew Wiggins dunking on Luka Doncic was put an exclamation point on Game 3
- "It wasn't an offensive foul. It was an offensive dunk," said Charles Barkley
- The Golden State Warriors put away the Dallas Mavericks 109-100 to take a 3-0 series lead
The Golden State Warriors were able to overcome the hometown crowd of the Dallas Mavericks with a 109-100 victory to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals.
However, the bigger story in Game 3 was that of the Warriors’ Andrew Wiggins taking it strong to the rack and putting Mavericks star Luka Doncic on a poster late in the fourth quarter.
The thunderous dunk was so great that the decorated four-man panel of Inside the NBA included it in their highlights, which the always-unfiltered Charles Barkley had a nice quip for it as Ernie Johnson noted that it was originally called an offensive foul.
“It definitely was offensive though. I don’t mean an offensive [foul], it wasn’t an offensive foul. It was an offensive dunk,” the NBA Hall of Famer said.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr made the decision to use a coach’s challenge and the call was overturned, giving Golden State the 93-83 lead with six minutes and change left in the game.
Wiggins made a guest appearance on the broadcast soon after and “Maple Jordan” had just a few words about it.
“They [referees] tried to take that away from me. I put in a little flex in there,” Wiggins laughingly told the panel.
The Warriors were definitely in a dogfight with the Mavericks in Game 3 as the lead seesawed 11 times throughout the contest.
Doncic would go on to drop another 40-point performance and added 11 rebounds to his stat line with co-stars Jalen Brunson and Spencer Dinwiddie adding 20 points and 26 points respectively.
But it was clearly not enough for a Warriors team that is looking to make its first Finals appearance since 2019, where they lost to the Toronto Raptors team in six games.
Winning Game 3 not only puts the Warriors a win away from the Finals, but it also gave them their 26th straight series with a win on the road.
Game 4 will be played at American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas on Tuesday, May 24 with the tip-off scheduled for 9:00 PM ET.
Andrew Wiggins #22 of the Golden State Warriors dunks the ball against Luka Doncic #77 of the Dallas Mavericks during the fourth quarter in Game Three of the 2022 NBA Playoffs Western Conference Finals at American Airlines Center on May 22, 2022 in Dallas, Texas. Photo: Ron Jenkins/Getty Images
