Backup guard Jordan Crawford had the hot hand, scoring 14 of his 19 points in a 10-minute stretch during which he was 6 for 6 from the field, including a long jump shot to beat the first-quarter buzzer.
Steve Blake came in for Curry, and while he was on the court oversaw the Warriors coming back from an early 16-8 deficit to take a commanding 45-27 lead with 6:58 left in the second quarter after Crawford buried a turnaround fadeaway.
Andrew Bogut added 15 points and 10 rebounds for Golden State.
Golden State (41-24) is sixth in the West, three games ahead of Dallas (38-27) and Memphis (37-26).
Midseason trade acquisitions Blake and Crawford along with Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green hit 3-pointers while Jermaine O'Neal had six of his seven rebounds during the sudden turn of events.
The starters seemed energized by the second unit as Curry bounded off the bench when Dallas was forced to call timeout before he checked back into the game.
Andre Iguodala proceeded to block the Mavericks' Shawn Marion and on the other end of the court had a one-handed putback dunk off a missed Curry 3-pointer to force another timeout. Andrew Bogut had three dunks to cap off his 15-point night, all of which were scored on the first half on 7-for-8 shooting.
The Warriors outshot the Mavericks 51.2 percent to 36.6 percent and outrebounded Dallas 46 to 40, showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
Golden State pulled out to a 55-44 halftime lead and was never headed.
Crawford started the second period with a pair of hoops from in close and then a 3-point shot that gave the Warriors a 36-24 lead. Harrison Barnes' hoop made it 38-24.
Crawford hit another 3-pointer then a long jump shot as the Warriors grabbed a 45-27 advantage midway in the second quarter.
Bogut had five points late in the quarter to account for the 11-point lead that the Warriors didn't yield for the remainder of the contest.
Dallas went on a 10-2 run to cut the lead to nine at the start of the third quarter, but Curry responded with a 3-point play. The Warriors managed to hold onto a double-digit lead for the rest of the game, holding the Mavericks and former Warriors guard Monta Ellis in check.
Ellis led Dallas with 15 points, and Dirk Nowitzki added 12 points and six rebounds, but the Warriors led by as many as 24 points and didn't let up in the second half to spoil Ellis' return to Oakland.
Klay Thompson, who finished with 14 points, hit a jump shot to put the Warriors up by 21, and O'Neal's jump hook gave them a 79-57 lead entering the fourth quarter. The Warriors held Dallas to 36.6 percent shooting and outrebounded the Mavericks 46-40.
The Warriors have won 10 of 12 games since the All-Star break, including most recently beating Phoenix and Dallas at a time when each team entered Oracle Arena with the seventh-best record in the Western Conference and one spot below Golden State.
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