The Mavericks woke up Friday, or perhaps just stayed up for their overnight flight home and a locker clean-out afternoon, knowing that they gave MFFLs something that has been missing for a while.
Hope.
And not just a little bit of hope. But genuine championship-caliber hope after the run to the Western Conference finals ended Thursday with the 120-110 loss to Golden State in Game 5, which gave the Warriors a 4-1 series win and a trip to the NBA finals.
The Mavericks weren’t happy about the way they played in the conference finals. But it could not douse the pride they had in playing well beyond what anybody expected out of them.
And with that, we present to you the last morning-after takeaways of the 2021-22 Mavericks’ season.
THE BETTER TEAM WON: If it had come down to a whistle or a last-second shot or something like that in a Game 7, there might be some debate. But when you get beat 4-1, you simply got beat by a little bit better team. However, the results don’t indicate just how close these teams are in terms of their elite-ness. The Warriors have at least three players who likely will be in the hall of fame someday. The Mavericks have one in Luka Dončić. But the Mavericks are learning behind a 23-year-old superstar, not following the lead of a 12-year veteran, a 34-year-old who has been deep in the playoffs many times in Steph Curry. The Mavericks will have their day. It just wasn’t this year. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a hell of a ride.
HEART: The Mavericks trailed 87-62 with 5:40 to play in the third quarter. They were left for dead. Then, with the help of four 3-pointers, they closed to withing 92-84 late in the quarter. A 15-0 blitz was part of that comeback. They didn’t finish off that brilliant recovery. But they made a lot of folks in Chase Center nervous with their rally. Remember when Gene Hackman in The Replacements was asked at halftime what his team needed to pull out a victory and he tapped his chest and said: “Heart.” That’s what the Mavericks showed. And what they need to hold onto going ahead on this journey.
THE REBOUNDING HURT: If you’re looking for something the Mavericks need to address in the summer, whether it be through free-agency or a trade, it’s their rebounding. The only game they won in the West finals, Game 4, they outrebounded Golden State 45-42. In the four losses, they lost the board game by nine, 13, 14 and, in Game 5, by a whopping 17 rebounds. Kevon Looney had 18 caroms for the Warriors. The Mavericks simply gave up too many second-chance points in most of the games, including 17 in the clincher.
THREE-POINT DEPENDENCY: If anything, the Mavericks shoot too many 3-pointers, although we’re not sure that’s possible in this era of the NBA. They shot more 3-pointers than 2-pointers in every game in the series, averaging 44.6 heaves per game. They made over 40 percent of their triples in three games, under 30 percent twice. It’s a high-risk, high-reward way to operate. But there was no better proof of the old saying “live by the three, die by the three” than in this series.
LUKA’S CRAZY RUN: Dončić wasn’t perfect in the playoff run. But he was pretty darn spectacular. He finished the playoffs tied with Giannis Antetokounmpo for the top scoring average in the playoffs at 31.7 points per game. He did not have his best game in the Warrior’s clincher in Game 5. But he was stellar pretty much throughout. And his showing in Game 7 on the road at Phoenix is one for the memory banks. He’s only 23, already has a great portfolio of achievements and has so much more in store for him. Much like when Dirk Nowitzki was working hard to eventually win a championship, it’s going to be a joy and a privilege to watch Luka’s journey to, most likely, the hall of fame someday.
Twitter: @ESefko
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