By R.L. Bynum
Reggie Bullock couldn’t have had much more contrasting games in the Western Conference semifinals during a week he earned an NBA award.
He took 10 shots in both Sunday’s 109–100 Game 3 home loss to the Golden State Warriors and Tuesday’s 119–109 Game 4 home win. He was scoreless on Sunday but scored six 3-pointers and 18 points on Tuesday.
Golden State leads the series 3–1 heading back to San Francisco for Game 5 at 9 p.m. Thursday (TNT).
While Bullock’s Game 3 effort produced his career-worst playoff game score of -3.0, he’s put up two of his three best career playoff game scores in this series: 15.4 in Game 2 when he scored 21 points, and 15.0 on Wednesday. The six 3-pointers in each of those games are career playoff-highs.
The league awarded Bullock the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion award on Sunday, which goes to the player who pursues social justice and upholds the NBA’s values of equality, respect and inclusion.
Bullock’s honor came from his efforts to help marginalized or systematically disadvantaged members of the LGBTQ+ community. When his sister, Mia Henderson, a transgender woman, was murdered in 2014, Bullock dedicated his life to honoring her legacy and increasing visibility and acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community.
“We are all one, and I believe love lies in everybody’s heart,” Bullock said. “It’s incredibly important to me as a cisgender athlete to stand in support of the trans and LGBTQ+ community.”
Theo Pinson was again on the sidelines in his UNC monogram jacket, constantly yelling encouragement and almost always standing.
Reggie Bullock, Dallas Mavericks guard/forward
109–100 Game 3 Sunday loss vs. Golden State — Started; 40 minutes, 0 points, 0–10 FG, 0–7 3FG, 0–1 FT, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, -5, -3.0 game score
119–109 Game 4 Tuesday win vs. Golden State — Started; 38 minutes, 18 points, 6–10 FG, 6–10 3FG, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, +12, 15.0 game score
Playoff statistics — 17 games, 10.8 points, 40.7 FG%, 39.4 3P%, 88.9 FT%, 4.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists
Regular-season statistics — 68 games, 8.6 points, 40.1 FG%, 36.0 3P%, 83.3 FT%, 3.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists
Mavericks-Warriors Western Conference finals
(All games at 9 p.m. on TNT)
Game 1 in San Francisco: Golden State 112, Dallas 87
Game 2 in San Francisco: Golden State 126, Dallas 117
Game 3 in Dallas: Golden State 109, Dallas 100
Game 4 in Dallas: Dallas 119, Golden State 109; Warriors lead series 3–1
Thursday in San Francisco
X — Saturday in Dallas
X — Monday in San Francisco
X — If needed
Photos via @dallasmavs
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