By Rashad Miller
The Dallas Mavericks are headed to the Western Conference Finals for the second time in three seasons after defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder in six games of the seven game series. The 2024 Coach of the Year, Mark Daigneault applauded the Mavs for how they battled against the number one seeded Thunder.
“Coach [Jason] Kidd and his staff, I thought they did a great job. [Their] players did a great job. With all the respect in the world for how they competed in the series. I thought they were the better team over the course of the series.” Coach Daigneault concluded by saying he felt that he “thought [the game] could have gone either way… Obviously, they were one-point better”.
The Mavs rallied back from a 16-point deficit at the first half to complete a 17-point comeback to defeat the Thunder, 117-116. This was the first time in Maverick’s playoff history that the franchise came back from a 16 plus deficit to win a game. Coach Jason Kidd said of his team’s effort that he thought they “stayed together, trusted each other, and worked the game to get it down to seven points at the end of the third quarter and then it was anybody’s ball game”. Kidd is 5-0 in closeout games as a head coach.
Game 6 also marked Kyrie Irving going 14-0 in closeout games in his 13 seasons in the league. Irving said in Game 5 of this series that this was “one of the hardest series” he’s ever played but he’s shown patience and grace throughout the semifinals and didn’t start to have fun until “the game ended”. Kyrie would also state that it felt like “a long time coming. Just being back in this position… it was just a long way back. I’m grateful to have [the team] beside me.” Irving averaged 15.7 points, 6.2 assists and 2.3 rebounds in the six games he played in his first Western Conference Semifinal debut.
Luka Dončić would accumulate yet another triple double. His stat line of 29 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists were his third straight triple double and his seventh in the playoffs putting him at 11th most triple doubles in NBA history right behind the ‘Big O’ Oscar Robertson on the list. Dončić has fought through pain while leading his team alongside Kyrie throughout this series while maintaining positivity on the court and the bench.
That mentality has made this team more than a unit, but a brotherhood. “We always talk on the bench, stay together [and have] positive energy. [Tonight], it was a pure example of it”, Dončić would tell the media in the postgame presser. The five-time All Star averaged 24.7 points, 10.5 rebounds and 8.7 assists.
The Mavs continue their road to the NBA Finals as they face Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves. This is the first time Minnesota has advanced to the Western Conference Finals in 20 seasons.
The schedule is as follows:
| Game | Date | Time | Channel |
| 1: @ MIN | Wed. May 22 | 7:30PM/CST | TNT/TRU TV |
| 2: @ MIN | Fri. May 24 | 7:30PM/CST | TNT/TRU TV |
| 3: VS. MIN | Sun. May 26 | 7PM/CST | TNT/TRU TV |
| 4: VS. MIN | Tue. May 28 | 7:30PM/CST | TNT/TRU TV |
| 5: @ MIN* | Thu. May 30 | 7:30PM/CST | TNT/TRU TV |
| 6: VS. MIN* | Sat. Jun 1 | 7:30PM/CST | TNT/TRU TV |
| 7: @ MIN* | Mon. Jun 3 | 7:30PM/CST | TNT/TRU TV |
*: if necessary
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