First look: What to know about Mavericks vs. Warriors Western Conference finals series

All along, we suspected the NBA's Western Conference would come down to the Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors.

We were half right.

The Suns have been the NBA's darlings ever since they blew through the COVID-19 Bubble unbeaten in 2020, then blitzed their way to the NBA Finals last year, and followed that up with the league's best record this season.

But on Sunday, all that exploded in their faces like a trick cigar, and left standing in their place were the Dallas Mavericks.

Fun fact: The Suns had the NBA's best record in the regular season since Jan. 1, but guess which team had the second-best mark in that time frame?

The Mavericks might have turned the corner this year when on Feb. 10 they traded traded center/power forward Kristaps Porzingis and a second-round pick to the Wizards for guard Spencer Dinwiddie and forward Davis Bertans.

If you watched any of the Suns-Maverick series you saw the impact Dinwiddie had, especially in the do-or-die Game 7, when he came off the bench and scored 30 points. That's only seven fewer than Phoenix's starters managed — combined.

OK, enough about the Suns. The Western Conference title now is in the hands of the Warriors and Mavericks, the West's 3 and 4 seeds, respectively.

The Warriors appeared in five consecutive NBA Finals from 2015-19, then a combination of departures and injuries led to a complete collapse in 2019-20. Still unsteady last season, Golden State eked into the postseason via the new play-in tournament but was unable to advance.

Suddenly, all that's been forgotten. Led once again by all-everything Stephen Curry, and bolstered by the return of Klay Thompson from two serious injuries that cost him the previous two seasons, the Warriors have bounced back and are again a formidable threat to return to the finals.

Golden State got off to a blistering start, 18-3 entering December, and when it played Phoenix on Christmas Day it was a matchup of teams with the NBA's best records. Things cooled off in the second half of the season, partly because of a foot ligament injury suffered by Curry in March. The Warriors literally limped into the playoffs, but Curry has slowly returned to form and then some, putting Golden State back in the conference finals.

Here's a first look at the best-of-seven series that starts Wednesday in San Francisco:

More: Dallas Mavericks vs. Golden State Warriors picks: Who wins Western Conference Finals?

What is the Warriors-Mavs schedule?

Here is the schedule for the Western Conference final series between Dallas and Golden State (all games on TNT):

Wednesday, May 18, Game 1, at Golden State, 6 p.m.

Friday, May 20, Game 2, at Golden State, 6 p.m.

Sunday May 22, Game 3, at Dallas, 6 p.m.

Tuesday May 24, Game 4 at Dallas, 6 p.m.

Thursday May 26, Game 5* at Golden State, 6 p.m.

Saturday May 28, Game 6* at Dallas, 6 p.m.

Monday May 30, Game 7* at Golden State, 5 p.m.

*-if necessary

How'd Mavericks do vs. Warriors this season?

The Mavericks took the season series three games to one. All three games were played within a 57-day span in January and February. That timeframe is somewhat significant in that two of the games took place before the Dinwiddie trade. Also, Green only played in one of the games for Golden State.

They are teams with very different offensive philosophies. The Mavericks, paced by Doncic, take their time with the ball; the Warriors like to move quickly. This played out in the regular season meetings as Dallas was able to stifle Golden State's attack.

More: Dallas Mavericks vs. Golden State Warriors picks, odds: Who wins NBA Playoffs Game 1?

How did the Warriors get here?

Golden State, the No. 3 seed in the West, drew Denver in the opening round and made short work of the Nuggets, dispatching them in five games. The Warriors won the first two games by 16 and 20 points, respectively, before things tightened up considerably for the rest of the series.

Then it was on to the conference semifinals against second-seeded Memphis, and the way this series started out it looked like it might be one for the ages. Game 1 had a little bit of everything, including a critical ejection of the Warriors' Draymond Green on a flagrant foul late the first half. Golden State had to play from behind, and after it caught Memphis the two teams traded bucket for bucket down the stretch until Klay Thompson hit a clutch 3-pointer with 36 seconds left, giving the Warriors a 117-116 lead. The Grizzlies had a chance to steal the game on their final possession, but star Ja Morant's driving layup try went off the backboard and over the rim.

Morant was a big story in the series. Limited with a bone bruise in his knee, he didn't play again after Game 3. That the Grizzlies extended the Warriors to six games is a testament to Memphis' overall strength.

How did the Mavericks get here?

Dallas rallied late to defeat the Utah Jazz, 98-96 in Salt Lake City, to take the first-round series 4 games to 2. It was the first time the Mavericks advance out of the opening round since since winning the 2011 NBA championship. Doncic and Jalen Brunson each scored 24 points in the clinching game, but Dallas had to survive a last-second shot by Utah's Bojan Bogdanovic that came up short.

Then it was on to the conference semifinals and top-seeded Phoenix, and, well, you know what happened.

Mavericks vs. Warriors in the playoffs

Interestingly, this is only the second all-time playoff meeting between Dallas and Golden State. The Warriors prevailed four games to two in a first-round series in 2007, taking out a Mavericks team that had been in the NBA Finals the previous season. That's it.

Arizona legend Steve Kerr runs Warriors

Steve Kerr needs little introduction to Arizona sports fans, since he has deep roots with the University of Arizona as well as being a Suns draft pick and former minority owner and general manager. He left all that behind in 2014 when he got his first coaching job, with the Warriors, and all he’s done is win three NBA titles (2015, 2017, 2018).

Kerr was born in Lebanon, the son of then-U.S. Ambassador Malcolm Kerr, who was assassinated while serving as president of American University in Beirut. At the time his son was an 18-year-old freshman at UA, and there was an infamous, ugly incident in a 1988 game against ASU where spectators chanted unspeakable taunts at Kerr about his father's killing. Kerr, through tears, lead the Wildcats to victory. And it was this same season when Kerr, who had missed the entire previous season to a serious knee injury suffered during the World Championships, helped lead Lute Olson’s Wildcats to their first trip to the NCAA Final Four.

Kerr was the Suns’ second-round draft pick in 1988 but only spent one year with the Suns before being traded to Cleveland. He played for six different franchises through the 2003 season and played on five NBA championship teams. Kerr retired as the NBA’s career highest in three-point percentage (.454). His ties in Tucson led to him being part of the group headed by Robert Sarver to buy the Suns from Jerry Colangelo in 2004, and three years later Kerr became the Suns’ general manager, where he remained for three seasons.

That period is not fondly remembered by Suns fans. Coming off arguably the best three-year stretch in franchise history, Kerr traded away key players like Shawn Marion and Boris Diaw and the Suns slowly began a decline that led to the decade of futility preceding the current explosive success since the COVID bubble in 2020.

Kerr missed the final three games of the Memphis series as he was sidelined due to the NBA health and safety protocols. He tested positive for COVID-19 a few hours before Game 4, did have some mild symptoms and was cleared to return last weekend.

More: Dallas Mavericks vs. Golden State Warriors schedule, TV: How to watch NBA Playoffs series

Is Warriors' Stephen Curry healthy?

He sure seems to be. The two-time NBA MVP (2015, 2016) suffered the foot ligament injury March 16 against Boston and didn't play the rest of the regular season, missing the final 12 Warriors games.

He did not start the first four games of the Denver series, but his playing time increased significantly, from more than 21 minutes in Game 1 to almost 37 in Game 4. Curry returned to the starting lineup for Game 5 and has been there ever since, and he's scored 30 or more points in five of Golden State's first 10 playoff games. In the West semifinals-clinching Game 6 against Memphis, Curry dropped 29 points, the Warriors' second-most behind Thompson's 30.

Warriors have championship pedigree

The Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers are indisputably the NBA's gold standard, having won 17 league titles apiece, but guess which franchise is next on the list?

Yes, the Warriors, whose 10 finals appearances are third most in NBA history, and their six titles are tied for third-most with Chicago.

In fact, the Warriors won the very first championship, in 1947 while playing in their original city, Philadelphia. The league wasn't called the NBA then, it was the Basketball Association of America, and in 1949 after absorbing most of the Basketball League of America the NBA was born.

The Philadelphia Warriors won their second title in 1956, then drafted Wilt Chamberlain three years later, and in 1962 relocated in the Bay Area as the San Francisco Warriors. They reached the finals twice, in 1964 and '67, and changed their name to Golden State in 1971. Four years later, a season after missing the playoffs entirely, the Warriors won a surprising third NBA title — and their last until the recent domination in the 2010s.

Mark Faller is sports editor of the Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Reach him at mark.faller@arizonarepublic.com, and follow him on Twitter @falleraz.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Dallas Mavericks vs. Golden State Warriors NBA Playoffs series preview