Dallas and Golden State were ready for the second half on Tuesday.
American Airlines Center was not.
As the Mavericks and Warriors took the floor to warm up for the third quarter of their Game 4 playoff matchup, rain poured in through a leak in ceiling and onto the court. The initial solution? Towels.
Arena staff placed towels on the corner of the court on the receiving end of the unwelcome water.
Meanwhile Mavericks owner Mark Cuban watched helplessly from his courtside seat while Luka Doncic appeared to have suggestions for a fix.
TNT’s Allie LaForce reported during the delay that the leak was actually the second one at American Airlines Center this season. A March game between the Mavericks and Timberwolves also saw water dripping from the roof.
Arena staff eventually made their way to the scaffolding and appeared to rig a system that collected the water and diverted it through a hose and away from the court.
Meanwhile, a second leak reportedly appeared.
And the public address announcer called it. The Mavericks were officially playing host to an NBA rain delay.
Second-half play eventually tipped off with the delay officially clocking in at 16 minutes. Whatever the solution was, it apparently didn’t actually fix the leak. TNT cameras showed water dripping over the Mavericks tunnel midway through the third quarter.
But they worked out a fix to keep the game moving. And that was good enough. And they certainly fared better than the 1995 San Antonio Spurs, who saw fans soaked at the Alamodome thanks to an errant firehose.
