The Mavericks have the hammer in their Western Conference semifinal series against Oklahoma City.
They are up 3-2 and have a home game on Saturday night to possibly close out the Thunder.
This is where it gets really difficult. For the Mavericks as a team. And for Luka Dončić in particular.
From the team perspective, Josh Green summed it up perfectly on Friday.
“I think it’s going to be a battle,” he said. “And I’m looking forward to it.”
As are all the Mavericks, who are trying to get to the conference finals for the second time in three seasons under coach Jason Kidd.
“They’re all tough, not just the close-outs,” Kidd said of the notion that games to end a playoff series are the hardest ones to nail down. “Any games in the playoffs are tough. We do have experience with this. So we got to lean into that.”
That came from their first-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers, when the Mavericks also went from a 2-2 tie in the series, won Game 5 on the road and then closed it out in Game 6 in Dallas.
That’s the same road they have traveled in this series so far.
But the Thunder are different than the Clippers. Younger and perhaps more headstrong than the older, slower Clippers.
Which brings us to the challenges for Dončić, who impressed everybody with his ability to tolerate and even commiserate with the officiating crew during Game 5 at OKC on Thursday.
It was a reversal of character for the superstar guard, who typically has plenty of words with the referees, although he has been on relatively good behavior throughout the playoffs.
Now, he has to do it again.
Kidd said he didn’t have to talk with Dončić about his on-court demeanor. But he did speak generally to the team.
“I think he had that conversation with himself,” Kidd said. “I had that conversation with the team before we went on the floor just understanding the atmosphere, being on the road, the calls will not (go for you) so let’s not complain about the calls.”
Dončić said he was just focused on playing basketball and having fun “with a smile.”
Green said it was impossible not to notice Luka’s zest.
“To me, Luka’s always full of joy,” Green said. “It might not seem like it sometimes, but there’s a little kid inside of Luka all the time. It’s cool to see that.
“It’s been a long season for him. It’s been a long season for everyone. And once somebody smiles, it’s contagious. It’s always awesome to see that. And he’s smiling today, too.”
That might be the best news for the Mavericks heading into Game 6.
A chance for 14-0: It’s an amazing stat that Kyrie Irving has a 13-0 record in close-out games from his years with Cleveland, Boston, Brooklyn and the Mavericks.
“It’s awesome,” Green said. “It shows he’s a winner and competitive.”
And what Irving also has sown in this series is that he’s not a one-trick pony. His scoring has been well below his usual average. But the Mavericks have found ways to win without big points from Irving.
“The big thing we’ve always looked at is ourselves as a team,” Kidd said. “Not just one guy or two guys even though Luka and Kai get a lot of the attention. Kai’s ability to find the open guy – he’s taking the double-teams, he’s accepting them, and trusting that his teammates are going to make the right play.
“And he’s giving everything he has on the defensive end. I’ve never seen him play defense like this in the playoffs, understanding what’s at stake. His game has gotten better on the defensive end. And we’re going to need that (in Game 6).”
Said Green: “Guys have stepped up. P.J. (Washington) has had a huge series. D-Jones (Derrick Jones Jr.) has had an amazing series. It’s awesome for them, but also for Kyrie to be able to trust in his teammates like that, I think that’s huge.”
Paying homage to Vince: Kidd was one of Vince Carter’s teammates when the Nets were in New Jersey and he’s ecstatic that not only is Carter entering the hall of fame this summer, he’s also going to have his No. 15 jersey retired by the Nets.
Although it seems like just yesterday, Kidd said it “was a long time ago” that he was hurling lob passes to Carter for dunks with the Nets in the early 2000s.
“I think it’s a great thing for Brooklyn to retire Vince’s jersey,” Kidd said. “He’s done a lot for the Nets and for myself. But it’s cool that 15 is going to be up there. It’s well-deserved and there’s no better teammate to be able to go up there.”
As for Carter’s “half-man, half-amazing” persona, Kidd said: “He made the game easy. I could have thrown a couple balls out of bounds, but his athletic ability saved me. And he was always up for the competition. I was lucky to have him on my side.”
Kleber on the court: Big man Maxi Kleber suffered an AC joint separation in his right shoulder on May 3 and has been missed in the Oklahoma City series.
But if the Mavericks are able to move on to the next round, it remains a possibility Kleber could return in these playoffs.
On Friday, he did some light shooting and Kidd said it was encouraging to see Kleber back on the court.
“There is a possibility that he can return,” Kidd said. “It’s great to see him getting his blood-flow going and getting with the defensive slides. It’s all progress. It’s all going in the right direction. That’s a positive for him, but also for his teammates and coaches to see him doing some basketball activity. We’ll see what that timeline looks like as we go forward.”
When Kleber suffered the shoulder injury, the original timeline for a re-evaluation was three weeks. Friday was the two week mark since the injury.
More of the same from Hardy: As you may have read in this spot on Thursday, Jaden Hardy probably earned another look after his Game 5 performance, when his energy helped ignite the Mavericks in the first half against the Thunder.
“I wanted to get to Hardy in one of the other games earlier but didn’t get to,” Kidd said. “I believe and trust that he’s ready to play. I think his teammates would say the same and I thought he did a really good job. I thought his energy, his decision-making was at a high level and defensively he did all the right things. As I said after the game we got to try to figure out how to get him more minutes.”
Kidd emphasized that Dante Exum, whose minutes went to Hardy, is not out of the mix.
“Someone has to sit so Exum was the one,” he said. “Someone else could sit come tomorrow night. But just looking at what Hardy did, we got to get him on the floor.”
Briefly: Friday’s chat with reporters was one of the funniest of the season for Kidd. First, the PGA Championship was on a television in the interview room and former University of California standout Colin Morikawa was in front at the time. “There you go, Colin, go Bears – one of the best golf teams in the country.” A few minutes later, Kidd was talking about Luka Dončić’s resolution to avoid confrontations with the referees and how he has never complained about his injury situation. “Luka never complains. He never complains about anything,” Kidd said, eliciting some snickers from the media members. “That’s just who he is.” At that point, someone’s cell phone interrupted with a recorded “That’s what I figured.” After laughter died down, Kidd said: “Siri agrees that he doesn’t complain. That’s pretty good.” . . . This is the first time in the OKC series that the teams have had two days off between games. Will that help with aches and pains, particularly with Luka? “Some say yes. But the physicality is going to start up again tomorrow,” Kidd said. “An extra day can help with the bumps and bruises and give you a little bit more gas in the tank. So, yeah, I would say it does. But once the game starts, the nagging injuries will pop up and you just got to play through them.”
X: @ESefko
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