Warriors stun Mavericks and take 3-1 series lead

Jason Richardson poured in 22 points for the Warriors, who took a stunning 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Stephen Jackson had 19 points and Mickael Pietrus donated 16 points off the bench in the victory.

"We’re resilient," Davis said. "We got down, but they were missing shots. We just need to keep playing defense."

Jerry Stackhouse led the Mavericks with 24 points, while Dirk Nowitzki had 23 with 15 rebounds. Josh Howard also notched a double-double with 22 points and 12 boards while Jason Terry chipped in 19 points.

Dallas, which has lost five straight playoff road games, hasn’t lost in the first round of the postseason since 2004 when it was ousted in five games by the Sacramento Kings.

Game 5 is scheduled for Tuesday at American Airlines Center.

Golden State, down by seven midway through the fourth quarter, ripped off a 15-2 run — capped by Davis’ fadeaway jumper — to take a 96-90 lead with just under one minute to play.

After Terry buried a three-pointer for Dallas, Matt Barnes responded with one of his own to keep the Warriors’ edge at six, 99-93 with 23.9 seconds left.

Nowitzki, though, hit a trey, and after Richardson hit two from the line, Nowitzki converted a second three to keep the Mavericks alive and cut it to 101-99.

Davis then converted 1-of-2 from the charity stripe and Pietrus stole the inbounds pass from Devin Harris and hit a free throw to seal the win.

Golden State finished 46 percent from the field, while Dallas shot 44 percent.

With the game knotted at six early on, Dallas went on an 11-2 spurt — capped by Howard’s jumper — for a nine-point edge and led 27-21 at the end of the first quarter.

Golden State, however, chipped away at the Mavericks’ lead and finally tied it at 42 on Pietrus’ three-pointer with 2:14 left in the second. Moments later, Nowitzki hit a layup to put Dallas up by three, but Barnes responded with a trey to make it a 46-46 game.

Nowitzki then converted a three-point play before Davis took the inbounds pass with less than one second left and buried a three from half-court at the buzzer to knot it at 49 at halftime.

The game remained nip-and-tuck in the third with the Mavericks leading by as many as nine on DeSagana Diop’s running hook shot with just over three minutes left.

The Warriors, trailing 77-72, deadlocked things when Davis hit a triple and then stole the ball on a Stackhouse turnover, slamming it home to make it a 77-77 contest entering the fourth.

Game Notes:

Dallas outrebounded Golden State, 49-34...Attendance was 20,672.