For the third time in franchise history, and for the first time since 2011, the Dallas Mavericks are headed to the NBA Finals after dominating the Minnesota Timberwolves 124-103 in Game 5 of their Western Conference finals on Thursday night at Target Center.
Dallas won the series 4-1; the NBA Finals begin next Thursday night in Boston against the Celtics.
After struggling in Game 4, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving were special in Game 5. Doncic had 36 points, including 2o in the first quarter, to go along with 10 rebounds and five assists, and Irving also dropped 36 points. This is the fourth time in the postseason that Doncic and Irving have scored 30-more points in the same game. Dallas led by as many as 36 points and were never really threatened.
Dallas responded with a championship effort following their Game 4 loss, and that’s a credit to their two best players, who played at a high level, especially Doncic in the first quarter.
The five-time All-Star, who was named Magic Johnson Western Conference finals MVP, scored 12 of the Mavs’ first 16 points; he came out like a man on a mission, and before you knew it, the game was over.
“Set the tone,” Doncic said. “Just got to set the tone. That’s about it.”
Mavs head coach Jason Kidd felt Doncic did set the tone for Dallas on both ends of the court.
“Luka came out and set the tone offensively and defensively,” Kidd said. “I thought he was going to he let everybody know he was ready, ready to play, and so I thought we followed his lead… And I thought again, Luka, he was able to be aggressive, and then Kai(Kyrie Irving) joined the party.”
Irving joined the party with 15 points in the second quarter and 10 more in the third quarter. Irving, who won an NBA title with the Cavs in 2016 is back in the Finals for the first time since 2017, does not want to take anything for granted.
“Oh, it feels great, man,” he said. “Definitely don’t take this moment for granted because of how hard we had to work to get here, and we had to earn our spot into the NBA Finals, and we had to go against some great opponents.”
The Mavs’ appearance in the NBA Finals was unexpected for most of the season, but when they acquired Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington before the trade deadline, this team became championship contenders. Now, they are four wins away from an NBA title, but it won’t be easy against the Celtics.
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