The Mavericks will look back at their two-month run in the NBA playoffs and realize it was packed with moments that they will never forget.
And we’re not even talking about the woman who clearly was in the throes of passion somewhere near the interview room in Oklahoma City when Luka Dončić started his postgame visit with reporters.
That seems like forever ago. That’s what the playoffs do. They go on, eliminate teams who are not ready to pounce and they wait for no one.
But when it comes to basketball, there’s nothing more fun for players, coaches, fans, anybody who appreciates the bouncing ball than a long playoff run.
Luka Dončić will appreciate that quickly after the sting of the 4-1 NBA Finals defeat to the Boston Celtics subsides. And he’ll also appreciate what sort of perseverance it takes to get to the Finals.
And win it, someday.
But for now, it’s time to look back at what a wonderful Mavericks’ playoff run looked like.
It was a crazy time back in mid-April when the regular season finished.
And the playoffs proved to be fully unpredictable.
A sixth-seeded playoff team made the Eastern Conference finals as Indiana pulled off upsets of the higher-seeded Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks.
A fifth seed in the West made the NBA Finals.
What we can take from that is that all you really have to do anymore is get an invite to the party. Make the playoff field and anything can happen.
That’s how level the NBA’s playing field appears to be.
There hasn’t been a repeat champion in six years. The table is set for teams like the Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder and, yes, the Mavericks. And you can’t expect Denver, Phoenix or Golden State to simply fade away. Those franchises are trying to win just as much as anybody else.
Even the Celtics, who were clearly the dominant team in the league from start to finish, had moments when they were vulnerable. They lost home games to Miami and Cleveland in the first two rounds of the playoffs.
All of that bodes well for the Mavericks’ future.
But let’s enjoy the past 22 games that the Mavericks played. They had 13 wins, nine losses in the playoffs. And here’s a brief rundown of our highlights of the last two months.
It all started with “Standing on Business.”
The Mavericks were tied at 1 with the Los Angeles Clippers and involved in the first of what coach Jason Kidd would call many “swing games” during this playoff run.
P.J. Washington saw Russell Westbrook twirl Dončić around like he was some sort of rag doll, took offense, pushed the Clippers’ volatile guard and then got pushed back.
Then, he struck the arms-folded pose that would show up on T-shirts and become the battle cry of the first round and beyond: Standing on Business. And the Clippers would be history a week later.
In Oklahoma City, the No. 1-seeded Thunder were the exact opposite of the grizzled, old Clippers. They were young, scrappy and hungry. Too young, as it turned out.
And, after he had set such a tone in the first round, it was Washington’s series. He averaged 18.7 points and 8.3 rebounds. He had three double-doubles and three scoring games of 21 points or more. It’s not a stretch to say the Mavericks would not have won the series without him playing like he did, given the defense that Lu Dort played on Dončić.
They were the only 20-point scoring games Washington had in the playoffs. The Thunder gambled that they could leave him open. And they lost.
But at least Thunder coach Mark Daigneault didn’t accuse the Mavericks of cheating.
Minnesota coach Chris Finch did in the Western Conference finals.
And it was his subtle way of doing so that made it headline material.
When Finch was asked why he switched from Jaden McDaniels to Dončić to Jaylin Williams, he said: “He does a better job of getting through all the illegal screens they set for Luka. Jaden was getting cracked a lot. Jaden traditionally has been really good on Luka with his length. But he’s cracked by a lot of screens out there.”
That wasn’t the only time that he mentioned some rule-bending tactics by the Mavericks.
And guess what, the Wolves lost.
Which brought the Mavericks to the NBA Finals against the Celtics. And the one thing that they got right in the series?
Kidd knew what he was talking about.
It was before Game 2 in Boston when Kidd threw out the opinion that Jaylen Brown was the Celtics’ best player. He did so, citing the East finals when Brown was voted as the MVP of that series.
And if it perhaps got Brown and Jayson Tatum thinking individually rather than about the collective good, it would be an added bonus for the Mavericks.
That didn’t happen. Brown and Tatum were terrific all series.
But in the end, Kidd was right. Brown was the Celtics’ best player, as justified by him winning the MVP award for the Finals.
It was just another twist in two months that had a lot of them.
But the most important thing the Mavericks can take from their playoff journey is how much fun it was.
Here’s hoping they get to do it again soon.
X: @ESefko
Share and comment