Three takeaways from Warriors’ Christmas Day win over Cooper Flagg, Mavericks

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Three takeaways from Warriors’ Christmas Day win over Cooper Flagg, Mavericks

Kenzo Fukuda, ClutchPoints · ClutchPoints

Fri, Dec 26, 2025 ·

6 min read

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Three takeaways from Warriors' Christmas Day win over Cooper Flagg, Mavericks appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Like Santa Claus delivering presents to everyone in the world, the Golden State Warriors did their job and took care of business in their Christmas Day clash with the Dallas Mavericks , claiming a 126-116 for their third win in a row.

Led by Stephen Curry and his 23 points, the Warriors overwhelmed the Mavs by committee. De'Anthony Melton scored 16 points off the bench, Jimmy Butler paced his way to a 14/9/9 statline, and Al Horford returned from a sciatic nerve issue to toss in 14 points on 4-0f-5 from deep.

And while the Warriors' 3-point struggles continued, shooting 14-of-50 from deep (28.0%), they went 30-for-49 (61.2%) from inside the arc, dealing a season high 33 assists in the process.

The Dubs' all-around scoring was enough to withstand a strong 27-point night from rookie Cooper Flagg , as the Mavs never got close enough to make Golden State sweat. The Mavs lost Anthony Davis to a groin injury midway through the game and could not replicate his defense or production in the aggregate.

The Christmas Day win capped off a strange week for the Dubs. Here are three takeaways from the Warriors' 16th win of the season.

The rotation is beginning to solidify

After thirty games of tinkering with the starting lineup and the rotation, it seems like Steve Kerr 's starting to narrow down everyone's minutes into something more concrete and consistent.

The Warriors went 11 deep with Al Horford rejoining the fold. The combinations made sense, as Kerr so often harps on.

When Curry was off the floor, Butler ran the show with players like Horford, Brandin Podziemski , and Will Richard , guys who just make sense with him. When Butler rested, they ran the classic Curry offense with Green, Gary Payton II , and Moses Moody taking advantage of his gravity.

They found good bursts with Trayce Jackson-Davis , who's become far more playable as an energy guy this season, and got Melton closer to where he was last season in his 24 minutes. It just seemed like with the rotation pattern mapped out, and the minutes concrete, there was a clarity on the basketball court. It's something that Curry himself also noticed.

"Yeah, we've been asking for that," Curry said when asked about the rotation stablizing . "Asking for it, also understanding it's been hard because of injuries, because because of the revolving door of who's available, who's been playing well, certain things that coach sees that he's making or informs his decision.

"So it helps when guys know who they're out there playing with, and can develop a chemistry and a rhythm, especially offensively. Because it does change depending on who you're out there with. The hard part is you got Buddy [ Hield ], JK [ Kuminga ], Gui [Santos] Pat [Spencer]. Seth [Cury], who's hurt. You got guys who have also played, and they have to stay ready too, because things can change."

The shots have to start falling eventually… right?

While the Warriors put up 126 points, they shot a measly 28% from beyond the arc. In fact, they got up 50 3-pointers, only burying 14 of them. Everyone besides than Horford was chucking bricks at the rim, including Curry who finished just 2-of-10 from deep. And while they made timely ones, they also missed a ton of open ones–which has been a trend as of late.

This season, the Warriors rank 23rd in the league in 3-point percentage where the closest defender is four-to-six feet away at 32.2%. Those 3-pointers make up 26.9% of their shot diet, meaning they're leaving a lot of meat on the bone in that area of their offense.

Most of those shots get generated whenever Curry or Butler draw two on the ball and the rock gets swung to the open man. And the open man is usually someone like Horford, Melton, Moody, and Quinten Post , and as previously stated, only Horford punished the Mavs defense when given the shot.

Still, the inside-the-arc game is encouraging in spite of the 3-point woes. The Warriors are shooting 62.5% on two-pointers during their three-game win streak, which ranks second in the league across teams in their last three games. They are getting points in the paint both in the halfcourt and on the break, which makes up for the missed threes.

The glass half full perspective is that the 3-point numbers will start to equalize to go with the strong two-point numbers. But glass half empty view is that this is their identity – an offense that thrives inside the arc and not outside it.

The Warriors weathered a tumlutuous week

With the Draymond Green-Steve Kerr incident rocking the ship early this week, the fact that the Dubs strung together three straight wins against quality teams feels like a sign they'll be able to move past it.

"I think they're, [those] two, are in a better place," Curry said postgame. "Stuff like that happens. They have the equity of years and years of a relationship that is had its moments, but as professionals that you are, you come back and you approach the next day with a fresh start."

Green and Kerr got into a heated argument in the huddle during the Warriors' 120-97 win over the Orlando Magic , which led to Green removing himself from the bench. Green would later return to the bench but Kerr did not put him back into the game.

It was incident that had the potential to spiral into something worse, for a team that's already struggled to find a rhythm as it wavers around .500 over a quarter of the way into the season. But they got in front of it, Green and Kerr talked it out , and maybe most importantly, they won the following game. Winning tends to be the antidote to a team's frusrtations.

For Butler, he likes those kinds of moments. They are signs of a competitive team that cares .

"When you've been together for so long, y'all gonna have arguments," Butler said post-game. "It ain't gonna it ain't gonna be quiet all the time. It's okay. You got two fierce competitors that have won it together and that want to continually win. We know what it is. And you know, if you're looking at me, I'm just looking up like, all right, I expect that to happen. That's okay. We move on."

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