Dončić voted one of three finalists to capture MVP award

LOS ANGELES – Dallas Mavericks point guard Luka Dončić was named Sunday by the NBA as one of three finalists to win the league’s Most Valuable Player award for the 2023-24 season.

The other two finalists are Denver center Nikola Jokic and Oklahoma City point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The MVP winner, along with winners in six other categories, will be announced on TNT on Tuesday.

Finalists were chosen based on votes from sportswriters and broadcasters, and their ballots will be posted at pr.nba.com after the announcement of each of the end-of-season award winner.

The three finalists for the league’s Most Improved Player are Garland’s Tyrese Maxey of the Philadelphia 7ers, Houston’s Alperen Sengun and Chicago’s Coby White. The finalists for Defensive Player of the Year are San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama, Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert and Miami’s Bam Adebayo.

The Sixth Man of the Year finalists are Sacramento’s Malik Monk, Milwaukee’s Bobby Portis and Minnesota’s Naz Reid. The Rookie of the Year finalists are Wembanyama, Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren and Charlotte’s Brandon Miller.

Jamahl Mosley (Orlando), Mark Daigneault (Oklahoma City) and Chris Finch (Minnesota) are the three Coach of the Year finalists.  And Golden State’s Stephen Curry, Chicago’s DeMar DeRozan and Gilgeous-Alexander are the three finalists for the Clutch Player of the Year awards.

As a clutch player for the Mavs, Dončić led the NBA in scoring (33.9), was second in assists (9.8), second in three-pointers made per game (4.1), and eighth in steals (1.4) as Dallas captured the Southwest Division title with a 50-32 record. He also led all guards in rebounds (9.2), and shot 48.7 percent from the field and 38.2 percent from beyond the three-point stripe.

“He’s just an incredible player,” Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “It’s like he’s seen it all.

“He just has this amazing pace to his game.”

If Dončić wins the MVP award, he’ll become just the second player in Mavs’ history to do so. Hall of Fame forward Dirk Nowitzki was the MVP in 2007 after he averaged 24.6 points and 8.9 rebounds, and shot 50.2 percent from the field and 41.6 percent from beyond the three-point arc while leading the Mavs to the best record in the league at 67-15.

“Tell Luka he’s my MVP,” Mavs guard Kyrie Irving said. “We knew how special this year was going to be just based on our practices, what Luka was doing, showcasing that all the time, really being more vocal, challenging his teammates, challenging me and doing it in his own way. And I think that’s the true sign of an MVP.

“(He was) coming into the season and really initiating himself into that leadership role and doing it on both ends of the floor. His stats speak for themselves.”

SECOND QUARTER OFFENSE: On the Mavs scoring just eight points in the second quarter, Irving said: “Scoring eight points feels like forever, and that’s what it felt like out there. I think it started with how we started off the second quarter and allowed them to feel very comfortable in that first quarter, and there was a carryover.”

In the second quarter, the Mavs were just 2-of-21 from the field – 0-of-9 from three-point range – and committed five turnovers.

“I think we got to give them credit for hitting shots and doing the right thing, capitalizing off our turnovers and our lack of physicality,” Irving said. “So, it was a combination of a lot of those things where we allowed them to feel comfortable on the offensive end.”

MAVS HAVE LOW ASISST TOTAL: Going into Game 1 of this best-of-seven series, Los Angeles Clippers coach Tyronn Lue often talked about if Dončić was scoring a lot of points, he wanted to make sure the Clippers kept his assist total at a minimum.

On Sunday, Dončić scored 33 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, and finished with six assists.

“That was our game plan coming in,” Lue said. “(Terance) Mann and Amir (Coffey) just picking up full court. Just giving Luka different looks to try and wear him down, because he is a great player.

“You have to throw different looks at him. You have to play hard, compete. He’s going to make some tough shots as we saw tonight, but just make it hard and make it work. Don’t let your guard down. Make him work.”

As a whole, the Mavs only had 14 assists in the series opener. They averaged 25.7 helpers in the regular season.

SECOND HALF SURGE: Although they fell behind by as much as 29 points, the Mavs are confident their play in the second half will spill over into Game 2 Tuesday.

After trailing, 56-30, at halftime on Sunday, the Mavs outscored the Clippers, 67-53, in the second half. And the Mavs will put heavy emphasis on that turnaround going into Game 2.

“We got stops,” Irving said. “Some tendencies we saw from guys on their team, and they were really going opposite and really challenging us to guard those different looks.

“(In the) first half, I think they had a few plays that we just weren’t prepared for and we got to take that accountability. And in the second half once we picked up the physicality and starting demanding that greatness out of ourselves and not being afraid of the moment (we) started to settling into what is out there. It’s a war out there, metaphorically speaking. So, we got to enjoy and have fun, but we got to bring it to these guys.”

X: @DwainPrice