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Warriors return home to entertain Mavericks

Dec 11, 2013 - 3:37 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Golden State Warriors return home Wednesday night from an unsuccessful road trip to welcome the road-weary Dallas Mavericks to Oracle Arena.

The Warriors went 1-2 on a recent trek east and are just 6-8 as the visitor. They are 6-2 at Oracle Arena, where they will play seven of the next nine games.

"Great teams are great on the road and at home, especially when you know you're better than the other team," said Warriors guard Klay Thompson.

Golden State lost big in Houston, then won big in Memphis, but the rubber match of the trip came in the form of a 115-111 loss in Charlotte Monday night.

The Warriors were down double-digits, but tied it in the fourth quarter. They didn't have enough left in the tank as Charlotte went on a 15-4 run. Steph Curry wouldn't let his team going away completely and cut the deficit to two with 11 seconds left, but Kemba Walker made two free throws to secure the victory for the Bobcats.

Curry was brilliant in his hometown with 43 points.

"It was a fun game, but very disappointing," said Curry. "It's early in the season, but this game stings a bit more than the rest. It's tough to drop a key road game at this point in the season, it just happened to be in Charlotte."

Thompson finished with 22 points, followed by 14 apiece from Harrison Barnes and David Lee, who also grabbed 16 rebounds. Andrew Bogut pulled down 12 boards.

Wednesday's game will end a four-game road trip for Dallas. It started great with a win in New Orleans and a very impressive victory in Portland, but the Mavs laid an egg on Monday with a 112-97 loss in Sacramento.

"I don't think we took them lightly, I think they just outplayed us," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "It was one of those nights where they made a lot more plays than we did."

The Kings only had 10 available players due to the impending Rudy Gay trade, but Dallas couldn't handle DeMarcus Cousins, Derrick Williams and Isaiah Thomas. That trio went off for a combined for 87 points.

Monta Ellis led the way for the Mavs with 21 points, followed by 17 from Dirk Nowitzki. Jose Calderon added 11 and Shane Larkin scored 10 off the bench.

The Mavs shot 39 percent from the field and a disastrous 5-for-27 from long range.

Dallas beat the Warriors at home on Nov. 27 and has won four of the last six between the two teams. Golden State has taken three of the last four at home against the Mavs.