Why can the Dallas Mavericks win the NBA Finals? (Hint: The answer is Slovenian)
A team that just three months ago was dangerously close to the play-in round of the NBA playoffs will now play in the NBA Finals.
On Thursday night in Minneapolis, the Mavericks easily defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 124-103 in Game 5 of their Western Conference Finals series. The Mavs won the series, 4-1.
The Dallas Mavericks, the fifth seed in the Western Conference, will play the Boston Celtics for the NBA’s Larry O’ Brien Trophy. Do not let the regular season records and statistics convince you that the Celtics are the overwhelming favorites; the Mavericks can beat the Celtics.
The Mavericks will now have plenty of time for a little R&R. Maybe throw in a trip to Cancun. Game 1 of the NBA Finals is June 6 in Boston. The series will go to the American Airlines Center for Games 3 and 4, on June 12 and 14.
Game 5 of the West Finals was tied at 18 at the 5:43 mark of the first quarter. The Mavericks ended the quarter on a 17-1 run, which essentially ended the game.
This Game 5 felt very much like the Mavericks’ blowout win of the Suns in Game 7 of their second round playoff series in 2022, in Phoenix. The Mavericks never let those Suns in the building, and they kicked the Timberwolves out of theirs early.
With the Mavericks in the NBA Finals, the Dallas Stars need to win two of their potential remaining three games to continue this historic run for sports teams in this area. The Stars’ Western Conference Finals series with the Edmonton Oilers is tied at 2; Game 5 is Friday night in the American Airlines Center.
If the Stars win that series, it will be the first time since 2003 teams that share the same building advance to the NBA Finals, and Stanley Cup Final. That spring, the New Jersey Devils won the Stanley Cup against Anaheim; the New Jersey Nets lost in six games to the San Antonio Spurs.
The starting point guard for that New Jersey Nets team is current Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd.
The Mavericks are good enough to make their half possible. They are good enough because they have a back court that no team will be able to stop.
Two days after struggling to make their shots, the Mavericks back court of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving combined to score 44 points in the first half. The Wolves scored 40 as a team.
Early in the fourth quarter, both Kyrie and Luka had scored more than 30 points each. They finished with a combined 72, and Doncic was named the series MVP.
This will be the first trip to the NBA Finals for Doncic, and fourth for Irving.
“We’re a great team,” Irving told TNT’s Ernie Johnson on the floor during trophy celebration. “It’s not just about me and Luka. Without these guys supporting us, we wouldn’t be here.”
The Mavericks advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2011, when they defeated LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat in six games.
Like that series against the Heat, the Mavericks will be an underdog in these Finals. The Celtics finished with 64 wins in the regular season, the most in the NBA.
And the Celtics swept the two games against the Mavericks during the regular season. On Jan. 22, the Celtics won in Dallas, 119-110; on March, the Celtics won in Boston, 138-110.
The Mavericks that are playing now don’t look too much like either of the teams that lost to Boston in those games.
The additions of forward P.J. Washington and center Daniel Gafford dramatically, and successfully, improved this roster, and altered the lineup all the way down the bench. Their presence gives the Mavericks a legit chance to defend, and rebound, with a Celtics team that features All-NBA player Jayson Tatum, and a complete lineup.
The consistent concern (complaint?) about these Celtics is their path to these NBA Finals. Every team they beat was missing their best player for either all, or part of, their respective series. Miami’s Jimmy Butler, Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell and Indiana’s Tyrese Halliburton all missed major parts of their respective series against the Celtics in these playoffs.
The Mavericks are currently healthy, and they have two of the best players in the NBA who are just about unstoppable offensive players.
The Celtics will be the favorites for a reason, but the Mavericks can do this.
This story was originally published May 30, 2024 at 10:21 PM.
