Finally.
The Mavericks have been trying for more than a decade to find success in the NBA playoffs.
First it was Dirk Nowitzki, who had endless sweat equity built up with fans and peers after winning a ring in 2011. Nowitzki went through a slew of teammates, many of them desperate for playoff fortunes. And Dirk never got out of the first round after winning it all.
Then it was Luka Dončić. After a painful rookie season in terms of wins and losses, the superstar point guard made the playoffs his next two seasons and was ousted by the Los Angeles Clippers both seasons.
Finally, on Thursday night just before midnight, Dallas time, the Mavericks eliminated the Utah Jazz with a 98-96 thriller at Vivant Arena and claimed a spot in the Western Conference semifinals against the vaunted Phoenix Suns.
As coach Jason Kidd said: “We accomplished something.”
That may not sound like much, but Kidd had reminded everybody throughout the last part of the regular season and during the first round that the Mavericks had not done anything yet.
Now they have.
So here’s a look back at the first round series with our takeaways from Game 6 and the rest of the rollercoaster ride that led to a 4-2 series win.
LUKA, LUKA, LUKA: The superstar has proven he’s unstoppable in the regular season. Now he’s proven he can navigate through the playoff minefield. As soon as the series was over, Dončić gave praise to, of all people, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. He talked about how difficult last year’s playoff appearance was and how that makes this year all the sweeter. “It’s not easy to win against Kawhi, PG and the Clippers roster,” Dončić said. “It was really tough. A lot of people were surprised we took them to Game 7. I think we did a great job there. But I’m just happy to be past the first round.” As Kidd said, that monkey is off Luka’s back. Now, it’s on to bigger and better things.
UNSUNG HEROES: Reggie Bullock was under the weather for Game 6, yet still played 44 minutes and spent a good amount of his time on the court guarding the much smaller Mike Conley. Dorian Finney-Smith played 46 minutes and had to deal with Donovan Mitchell. And while Mitchell had one of his best games of the series, he still was below his season scoring average with 23 points. The Mavericks did a great job of making sure that the Jazz’s best player did not beat them. It seems like Finney-Smith is among the unsung heroes every time the Mavericks win. And it was vitally important that Bullock and Finney-Smith were a combined 6-of-15 from 3-point range and added 16 rebounds. These are the designated dirty workers who also can be opportunistic scorers. Their contributions are supremely underrated and underappreciated by many. But not by the people in that locker room.
SHOOTING EYE RETURNS: The Mavericks were shooting horribly through most of the first five games. But when the floodgates opened, the torrent of 3-pointers swept them all the way to the next round of the playoffs. The Mavericks hit 8-of-12 3-pointers in the third quarter, when they turned a 12-point deficit into a 77-72 lead. That’s also when they turned around a double-digit lead by the opponent into an eventual win, just as they had for an NBA-tying 18 times in the regular season. Phoenix also had 18 comebacks from 10 or more points. So don’t count anybody out in the next series.
JAZZ’S FUTURE: You can be certain that changes are coming. The pairing of Mitchell and Rudy Gobert has been a talking point for months in Utah. Remember back to Game 1 of the series? The New York Knicks had two high-ranking front-office employees sitting near the court, ostensibly to scout either Mitchell or free-agent-to-be Jalen Brunson. Probably both. The Jazz could opt to give the Gobert-Mitchell tandem another go-round. But sometimes, changes have to be made. The Mavericks, know that all too well, having gone through it last summer.
ON TO PHOENIX: The Mavericks lost all four meetings against the Phoenix Suns this season. But all three games were early in the season before Spencer Dinwiddie came to Dallas and two of the three were in Phoenix, back to back, in November. The Mavericks were a much different team then. They will be faced with a very difficult backcourt matchup with Chris Paul and Devin Booker confronting them. All Paul did in the clincher against New Orleans on Thursday was make all 14 of his shots. Maybe he used them all up.
Twitter: @ESefko
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