SUMMARY
The brilliance of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving allowed the Dallas Mavericks to join the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals, after a 124-103 victory at the expense of the Minnesota Timberwoles on Thursday night.
The Mavericks eliminated the Timberwolves in five games to join the Boston Celtics in the final which will begin on June 6.
Doncic and Irving dominated the game, with 36 points each. The Slovenian also collected 10 rebounds.
In NBA history, No. 77 has the best points per game average following a playoff loss with 34.2 (before Thursday night’s game).
He also became the 4th player in history to achieve 450 points, 150 rebounds and 150 assists during a single spring tournament.
“He made his teammates understand that it was time to take things to the next level,” Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said of Doncic. He sent out the invitations and the whole team responded. »
In the first quarter, Doncic already had 20 points. This is the second time in his career that he has achieved such a performance in the playoffs.
After two quarters, the Mavericks led comfortably 69-40 and the Mavs’ star duo had more points than the entire T-Wolves team at that point.
Irving, the Mavs’ No. 11, now has a 15-1 record in games where the opponent faces elimination.
In the loss, Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns each had 28 points.
“It never worked out collectively for our team in this series,” Edwards said. The previous two series, we were all on the same page, our shots and everything. This time, that wasn’t the case. »
Remember that this was the first time in 20 years that the T-Wolves found themselves in the conference finals.
This is the third time in history that the Mavericks have reached the final. The last time was in 2011, when they beat the Miami Heat in 6 games.
For the Celtics, they were in the finals 2 years ago, when they lost to the Golden State Warriors in 6 games.
The Mavericks will have a full week off before returning to action. This will be an opportunity for Irving and Kristaps Porzingis of the Celtics to face their former teams.
