The Western Conference championship trophy in one hand and the MVP trophy for the conference finals in the other, Luka Dončić showed a little bit of his inner Dirk Nowitzki after closing out the Minnesota Timberwolves.
It was 13 years ago when Nowitzki hopped over the scorer’s table at American Airlines Center and skittered out of the arena when the Mavericks had beaten Oklahoma City and reached the NBA Finals, where they would play, and beat, Miami.
He didn’t want to talk about any Western Conference championship. He had bigger fish to fry.
Dončić, meanwhile, may have been a bit more ecstatic as he and his teammates got to celebrate conquering a rugged Western Conference. This was, after all, his first time.
But in a heartbeat, he pivoted, turning his attention to the Boston Celtics.
“They’re the best team in the NBA,” Dončić said. “They have by far the best record, some incredible weapons on offense and defense so we’re going to have to play really hard and amazing basketball to beat them.”
Hard and amazing basketball has been the norm lately for the Mavericks.
And another thing that has been dependable is that they have gotten better every series. From the humble beginning of falling behind by 26 points at halftime in Game 1 of the playoff opener in Los Angeles against the Clippers, the Mavericks have worked on a slow build to become more than formidable.
Anybody remember “Standing on Business?” That was a sign that the momentum was building. Now, heading into the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics, they are a force with which opponents must deal.
“We had to earn our spot into the NBA Finals,” Irving said. “We had to go against some great opponents – OKC, Clippers and the Wolves. I feel like they got us better as a team.”
Coach Jason Kidd could not agree more.
“Every series has helped us for the next series,” he said after the Mavericks dispatched Minnesota in five games. “And this series is no different.”
And what the Mavericks saw from Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards may have been a good primer for what they’ll see from Boston, which relies heavily on the outside-in greatness of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis, who should be back from a lower-leg injury.
“We’re going to see five-out. Boston shoots the three at a high rate,” Kidd said. “They have a lot of talented players. They’ve been here before, they have the experience. They’re well-coached.
“This is another great test, two of the best teams left.”
Actually, the two best. There’s no denying that now.
“(Boston is an) amazing team,” said Dereck Lively II, who has emerged from a whirlwind rookie season to be playing a major role in the NBA Finals. “I know it’s going to be a dogfight out there.
“But no matter if they swing and hit us first, we’re going to keep swinging and see what happens, no matter if we’re down 10 or up 10.”
Lively, like everybody else with the Mavericks, is well aware that the Cetlcis are going for their 18th NBA title. The Mavericks would like to add a second one to their 2011 banner.
“They have a lot of tradition, but that doesn’t matter,” Lively said. “What matters is who’s going to go harder on the court.”
X: @ESefko
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