Jason Kidd opened the can of worms.
Kyrie Irving welded the top back on. Or at least put it in Tupperware until further notice.
The subject was the Mavericks’ backcourt and where it ranks in history with Irving and Luka Dončić forging greatness on pretty much a nightly basis in the playoffs.
“There’s a debate out there: is this the best backcourt in NBA history,” Kidd said Sunday night as the Mavericks went ahead 3-0 in the Western Conference finals with a 116-107 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. “That’s kind of cool. It doesn’t happen all the time.”
Enter Irving, who put some perspective into the conversation. And he gave a deferential nod to the great ones that have come before.
“It doesn’t mean anything if we don’t win a ring together,” Irving said. “And I say that very responsibly. There are other backcourts that are more deserving right now.
“Right now, I’m going to show a lot of respect to the guys who came before. (We’re) just focused on enjoying the moment.”
And there’s plenty to enjoy. The Mavericks are on the brink of the franchise’s third trip to the NBA Finals with what historically has been an insurmountable 3-0 lead over the Wolves with Game 4 on Tuesday at American Airlines Center.
Game 3 was certainly an absolute joy from the Mavericks’ perspective. They put together a crunch-time clinic—much like they did in Games 1 and 2 in Minnesota – to confound the Wolves.
As Minnesota coach Chris Finch said Monday: “We’re dyin’ a little bit by the poison that we’re pickin’. That’s what happens when you have great players that have seen a lot of different looks.”
The Mavericks clearly have become that difficult to deal with in these playoffs.
If it’s not Irving or Dončić taking turns throwing daggers when the game is on the line, it’s P.J. Washington from the corner, Derrick Jones Jr. at the rim or from the perimeter or a lob pass to Daniel Gafford or Dereck Lively II.
Pick your poison.
“You have to go through some failures, I suppose, to really believe that it’s going to work,” Kidd said Monday. “And last season, we went through that. We played tennis or ping-pong with the ball late in the game.
“But we had to go through that to understand. And I think we learned a lot from last season at the end of games. We weren’t very good. But it’s OK. As much as people feel they (players) should be traded or (coaches) fired because of failures, it’s sometimes sad. But we had to go through it.”
And, he quickly added:
“Maybe Minnesota is going through it now. For us, we understand what we have to do late game and we’ve done that throughout the whole season.”
It helps when you have maybe the two best closers in the game right now, short of LeBron James, who has a few more skins on the wall.
Just don’t try to put the Mavericks’ backcourt up against the likes of Steph Curry-Klay Thompson, Isiah Thomas-Joe Dumars or Magic Johnson-Byron Scott. Or Michael Jordan-anybody else.
They aren’t there yet. But they certainly are headed in a great direction.
Here’s our other takeaways from Sunday’s comeback victory:
Free for the taking: The Mavericks had only 68 field-goal attempts, an absurdly low number for an NBA game (Minnesota had 85). But the Mavericks also shot 31 free throws, canning 26 of them (83.9 percent) and therein lies the difference in the game. They outscored the Wolves by 14 poins at the free-throw line. But when Irving missed a couple of his eight attempts, it opened the door for some friendly razzing from Kidd. “I joked about his free throws that he no longer can shoot the T’s,” Kidd said. “So now he’s in there working on his game. (It was) to poke fun at him, but he takes it seriously. I compliment him for trusting me. I’m only here to tell him the truth and to try to help him achieve his goals.”
Superstars dominating: In case you’ve forgotten, some national analysts anointed Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards as the new face of the NBA before this series began. And, indeed, the Wolves’ guard had a great series as they ousted defending champ Denver in the second round. But Luka and Kyrie are overwhelming the Wolves. They had 33 points apiece on Sunday. They tacked on 10 rebounds and nine assists. Luka even had five steals. It’s clearly a symbiotic tandem: “For Luka, his skillset is like no other,” Kidd said. “He’s not afraid of the moment, but he’s not afraid to go to Kai. And then understand what he draws on the floor. You’re not going to leave Luka so that means it’s a numbers game. And it’s four-on-four. And the offense has the advantage. The trust they have in one-another is really cool to watch.”
Strong numbers: The Wolves shot 50 percent from the field. But look a little deeper to find out why the Mavericks were OK with that. First, the visitors made just 9-of-30 three-pointers (30 percent). They also went to the free-throw line just 17 times. And perhaps most importantly, Minnesota was just 1-of-8 from three-point range in the fourth quarter. Those are winning defensive numbers for the Mavericks.
X: @ESefko
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