Kelly Oubre Jr. exploded for a career-high 40 points Thursday night and the size-challenged Golden State Warriors used a small-ball approach to outgun the host Dallas Mavericks 147-116 in the opener of a two-game set.

The Western Conference playoff hopefuls will meet Saturday, also in Dallas.

Oubre hit 14 of 21 shots and seven of 10 from 3-point range en route to topping the 39 points he had for Phoenix against Houston last February.

Acquired by Golden State in a trade this past offseason, Oubre had never scored more than 23 points for the Warriors and had never had more than four 3-pointers for his new team.

Stephen Curry chipped in with 28 points and six assists in 30 minutes for the Warriors, who suited up only nine players, missing their three tallest -- James Wiseman, Kevon Looney and Marquese Chriss -- and forward Eric Paschall due to injuries.

Kristaps Porzingis, who at 7-feet-3 stood eight inches taller than any Warrior in uniform, had 25 points for Dallas. Luka Doncic paced the Mavericks with 27.

After they had used 18-for-36 shooting on 3-pointers to stay close well into the third period, the Mavericks made only two of their last 15 attempts, allowing Golden State to pull away.

Golden State's big push came after a Porzingis hoop had tied the game at 89 in the sixth minute of the third quarter. Curry then contributed six points to a 21-6 flurry that opened a 110-95 lead with 1:39 left in the final period.

Andrew Wiggins finished with 18 points, Juan Toscano-Anderson 14 and Draymond Green 11 to complement six rebounds and a game-high 15 assists for the Warriors, whose entire starting five scored in double figures.

Damion Lee and Mychal Mulder added 17 and 12, respectively, off the bench, pushing Golden State to a point total 10 points higher than any previous game this season.

Tim Hardaway Jr. had 19 points and Jalen Brunson 18 for the Mavericks, who were playing the second night of a back-to-back.

The meeting was the first since Dallas swept the season series from Golden State last year, winning three games by an average of 31.7 points. They romped by 48 points the last time the clubs had met in Dallas in November 2019.

--Field Level Media