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, Luka Doncic
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. Ron Jenkins/Getty Images