After the Dallas Mavericks fell short in last year's postseason, there were a lot of rumblings about Kyrie Irving's fit with Luka Doncic. After all, both were very ball-dominant guards with extremely high usage rates. But, a former point guard who has seen this before in Jason Kidd was their head coach. He made sure that they were able to solve their woes in the NBA Playoffs and have now just decimated a Minnesota Timberwolves squad that looked lost all Game 5.
Jason Kidd remembers the vitriol
Kyrie Irving finally dispelled all the issues when it came to his fit with the Mavericks. It was just a matter of him and Luka Donic having their own moments while the other got to rest. This largely showed in how they were able to decimate the Timberwolves in the first half. Luka Doncic took care of care of the earlier quarter while he tuned up in the latter period.
Jason Kidd saw how both of his guys thrived against the Timberwolves in this NBA Playoffs closeout win. He even lashed back at those who pushed the narrative that Kyrie Irving was not going to fit well under his system, via Ben Golliver of the Washington Post.
“It’s alright to be wrong. We’re not always right,” the Mavericks head honcho said.
The two indeed delivered. Irving played a team-high 40 minutes and knocked down 14 out of his 27 field goals to notch 36 points. Chris Finch had no answer for his deep bombs as well because he shot 40% from way out in Game 5. Moreover, his all-around work also pushed him to record four rebounds and five assists. All of this happened without him committing a single turnover.
Luka Doncic, on the other hand, netted the same amount of points but was more efficient with his shots. He went 14 for 22 on his attempts from all three levels of scoring and 60% from three-point range. This superstar was also the lead rebounder for the Mavericks as he grabbed 10 of them while also recording five assists and two momentum-shutting steals. These two clearly know how to co-exist and they four NBA Playoffs wins away from an NBA championship.
Mavericks decimate the Timberwolves on all fronts
The game was not even close. Chris Finch's team only led in the first few seconds and were no longer given an opportunity to bounce back. The Mavericks led by as much as 36 in this elimination game which looked like a great show of eagerness. Whether it was field goal percentage, assists, rebounds, or even points in the paint, the Mavericks got the edge.
Only Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards showed up for this squad. Every attempt that the Timberwolves had such that they could stretch the floor was locked down by the Mavericks' perimeter defenders. This all led to a horrid 31.3% three-point shooting from them. This paled in comparison to Coach Kidd's squad which knocked down 44.1% of their 34 attempts from outside.
The next challenge is a very loaded Boston Celtics squad. There is a lot of hope for the Mavericks but it will all boil down to execution in the last stage of the NBA Playoffs.
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