“I’m scarred by my Luka experience in Phoenix” - Kevin Wildes believes the Dallas Mavericks will bounce back vs the Warriors

The Dallas Mavericks fell 112-87 to the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Wednesday. The Warriors secured a blowout win, with Luka Doncic having a playoff low in scoring (20 points, 11.5 below his average).

While it is still too early to write off the Mavericks, Steph Curry and the Warriors are favorites to win the series and potentially win the title. The Mavs have come a long way and will be looking to make a claim as they have done with every series thus far in the playoffs.

ESPN analyst Kevin Wildes said the Mavericks' Game 1 loss does not matter. Having experienced the Mavs' comeback from a 2-0 deficit against the Phoenix Suns, Wildes strongly believes it would be unwise to count them out.

He said that Doncic’s performance against the Suns still haunts him as he is scarred by the point guard and the team's resilience. He also made it known that the cut across the 23-year old's face made him nervous for what is to come in the following outings.

"I'm scarred by my Luka experience in Phoenix," Wildes said. "The Suns were 11-0 against the Mavs, and I was like, 'Oh! We're good." Steve Kerr 19-1 and winning Game 1. It doesn't matter anymore. And then I saw this piece of video (the cut across Luka's face), and I said, 'Oh, man! I'm starting to get a little nervous.'"

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Will the Dallas Mavericks win Game 2 against the Golden State Warriors?

Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks reacts against the Golden State Warriors during Game 1 of the Western Conference finals at Chase Center on Wednesday in San Francisco, California

The Golden State Warriors will host Game 2 against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night. Games 3 and 4 will be played on Sunday and Tuesday at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

The Mavs are used to being down and winning series. That was the case against the Utah Jazz in the first round and the Phoenix Suns in the second round. They have been pegged to make the series a lot more difficult for the Warriors, a much harder opponent than the Memphis Grizzlies were.

Kevin Wildes believes the team could snatch a Game 2 win and so do a few other analysts. While this is not impossible, the Warriors will be looking to win both games at home and battle it out on the road.

With one of the best collections of shooters in the league, the Warriors have proved themselves to be very lethal. Plays could be made through Curry, Klay Thompson or Jordan Poole, but the Mavericks rely solely on plays made around the 2019 Rookie of the Year.

While that could be perceived as a weakness to their game if Doncic is heavily closed down, the three-time All-Star has shown repeatedly that he's unguardable.