A darker reality starting to set in for Warriors: Golden State continues its slide as it goes cold late against the Mavericks.

Byline: Marcus Thompson II

Jan. 26--OAKLAND -- In the final minutes, as Dallas Mavericks guard Jerry Stackhouse prepared for free throws, Warriors forward Troy Murphy looked up at the scoreboard. He smirked when he saw the double-digit deficit and hung his head while he stood under the basket. Reality settled in. After Wednesday's 102-93 loss to the Dallas Mavericks at the Arena, it's clear the Warriors (19-22) finally understand. They aren't the world-beaters the hype suggested. They don't have the talent to win by default. They aren't going to take the Western Conference by storm. Having lost three straight, 8 of 10 and 13 of 18, they realize if they are going to make the playoffs, it's going to take their best ball -- and that might not be enough. For the second consecutive game, they played with hunger, urgency. For the second consecutive game, it produced heartbreak. "We're not good enough to take plays off," said Warriors forward Troy Murphy, who had 22 points and 14 rebounds. "We have to come out every night and we have to be at our maximum effort for every play. And you can tell when we're not because stuff happens like it did tonight." They things that caused them to blow a 12-point lead Wednesday were the same things that helped them blow a 19-point lead to the Los Angeles Clippers at the Arena on Monday: cold shooting, missed free throws and an unfinished quarter. The Warriors went ice cold. They held a 78-72 lead with 29.7 seconds left in the third quarter after point guard Baron Davis, who led the Warriors with 26 points and 10 assists, converted a fast-break layup. But after Davis' basket, the Mavericks (32-10) -- who with the win clinched coach Avery Johnson's spot as the head coach of the Western Conference All-Star team -- took over the game with a 19-1 run. Dallas swingman Josh Howard dropped in a runner in the lane, forcing a Warriors timeout with 5:16 left in the game, to give the Mavericks a 91-79 lead. During that span, the Warriors stopped doing all the things that got them the lead. They were outrebounded 15-4. They attacked the basket but missed layups. They ...