Luka Doncic makes his case for best player in the world, leads Mavericks back to NBA Finals
Any hopes of Minnesota pulling off a historic comeback in the Western Conference finals were dashed by Luka Doncic in the first quarter of the Mavericks’ series-clinching 124-103 win on Thursday.
It’s not an over-exaggeration to say that Doncic’s first quarter performance was one of the most brilliant displays of basketball you’ll see as Doncic propelled the Mavericks to the NBA Finals. Doncic outscored Minnesota himself with 20 points to the Timberwolves’ 19 as Dallas jumped out to a 30-19 lead that was never challenged.
Doncic finished with 36 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Doncic was voted MVP of the Western Conference finals after the dazzling performance.
In the first quarter he was hitting shots from everywhere including a deep 3-pointer from the halfcourt logo over Kyle Anderson and then followed that up by spinning around Anderson at halfcourt and then pulling up for another 3 against a scrambling Minnesota defense.
It set social media ablaze as it did to Minnesota’s spirits as the Timberwolves looked like a team content with not having been swept. That’s how soul crushing Doncic’s brilliance was and in the midst of the stunning display it was hard not to wonder; Is Doncic the best player in the NBA right now?
Some will still defer to Denver Nuggets center and reigning MVP Nikola Jokic or maybe even Bucks’ star Giannis Antetokounmpo when he’s healthy. Both are reasonable picks, but with Doncic being the last man standing in the conversation he’s making a case that’s being heard around the country.
The level of which Doncic is playing at is also a reason the Mavericks don’t just have a chance against the Boston Celtics, they may deserve to be the favorites considering how they’ve mowed through the western conference this playoff behind Doncic.
Dallas dispatched the Clippers in six games and then the No. 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder in the same amount of the games. However, the way Dallas consistently out-executed a confident Minnesota team is easily the most impressive performance by a team in a series this postseason.
What Doncic did Thursday was just a continuance of his systematic takedown of the league’s No. 1 defense and Defensive Player of the Year in Gobert. His stepback 3s will get most of the attention, but what really allows Doncic to dominate the way he does is his basketball intelligence.
He’s the NBA version of a super computer with an answer for every type of defensive scheme you can throw at him. Minnesota tried everything you can think of from starting Jaden McDaniels on him at the start of the series to trying Anthony Edwards and Anderson.
The Timberwolves tried blitzing Doncic on pick and rolls, but he always routinely made the right pass to the open man. When they ran him off the 3-point line and tried to swarm him in the paint Doncic made the Timberwolves defense pay with lob after lob to Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford.
Minnesota tried to take those passes away from Doncic with drop coverage and he just knocked down long jumper after long jumper. For every test, Doncic had an answer and if you’re the Boston Celtics how do you approach such a challenge?
The Celtics have taken flack for how easy their postseason run has been with stars in the Eastern Conference falling like dominoes. First it was Jimmy Butler with the Miami Heat, then Donovan Mitchell and more with Cleveland.
All-star point guard Tyrese Haliburton missed the back of the Celtics’ victory in the conference finals and that series had one of the smallest point differentials in postseason history despite being a sweep. Boston could only play the opponents in front of them, but are they truly prepared to see this version of Doncic?
In theory the Celtics have as good of a collection of defenders as one could think to slow Doncic. All-star forwards Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have similar size to Doncic. Jrue Holiday and Derrick White are two of the best perimeter defenders at the guard position.
But Minnesota had his own plethora of quality defenders and you see how that worked out. Boston also had its fair share of trouble guarding the likes of Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell from the Pacers. Solid guards, but nowhere near Doncic.
Doncic won’t need to score 20 points in every first quarter of the NBA Finals for the Mavericks to have a chance, his presence guarantees that alone.
The title of best player in the world isn’t given, it has to be taken. Doncic didn’t win the MVP award this past season, but he and the Mavericks are on the cusp of attaining something much greater.
This story was originally published May 30, 2024 at 10:11 PM.
