DALLAS — Luka Doncic led the Dallas Mavericks to a Western Conference Finals victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Dallas has now reached the Western Conference Finals in two of the past three years. Those three years also happened to see Jason Kidd as the head coach of the team. Kidd has been able to witness Doncic's talent in the big moments over the past few years, and the Mavs head coach explained how Luka has been able to perform so well under the bright lights.
“That's a good question, I think it goes back to him and Real Madrid,” Kidd said while speaking to reporters on Sunday. “Just being on the biggest stage at the age of 15 or 16 years old. I know there's a clip of him out there playing against Russ, guarding Russ, gets Russ to shoot a jump-shot. Let us know that he can play defense… He has always adapted or he's been able to perform at the highest level. And for that, he can draw on those experiences and get his game to that level. When you saw Game 5, very similar to Game 7 in Phoenix (in 2022). He didn't let those fans get a chance to cheer.
“He wanted to end the game and he did in that first quarter. Again, he is special. He's one of the best players in the world and again, he loves the competition.”
Luka Doncic is just 25 years old. Yet, he consistently seems to perform well in big games during the regular season and throughout the NBA postseason. It will be especially interesting to see how Luka plays in his first NBA Finals appearance.
Mavericks vs. Celtics clash
The Mavs know that the Boston Celtics will present a challenge. That doesn't mean they are fans of the underdog narrative, however.
Derrick Jones Jr. discussed the topic on Sunday.
“We believe that we can beat anybody. Underdog, I don't like that really,” Jones said. “Everybody going to keep putting that narrative on us. We go out there and we play the game like we supposed to play. I don't really think anybody can beat us in a seven game series.”
Dallas is confident. They don't pay attention to the outside noise. Of course, having stars like Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving leading the way helps matters.
Irving's postseason experience will prove to be pivotal moving forward. He's played in the NBA Finals before and knows what to expect. One also has to imagine that Doncic will be ready for the NBA Finals as well.
Sure, he has not played in a Finals game yet. Nevertheless, he's continued to display clutch prowess in the big games.
Luka Doncic set for big NBA Finals
Doncic has averaged 31.1 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 8.2 assists per outing during his postseason career. Again, this is a player who is only 25 years old.
Many stars do not win their first championship until their late 20's or early 30's. It is possible that Doncic will need to end up waiting to win his first ring. At the moment, though, it appears that the Mavs have a realistic chance to upset the Celtics.
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