The Dallas Mavericks’ incredible joyride through their 44-season history came to a dramatic end Monday night at the legendary TD Garden in Boston. It was 9:59 p.m. Central when the final buzzer sounded, signaling a 106-88 victory for the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. The Celtics celebrated their league-record 18th championship on their iconic parquet court, marking a bittersweet conclusion for the Mavericks. Despite the loss, the Mavs and their fans hold onto the thrill and pride of reaching their third NBA Finals.
“No one picked us to be in this position; no one anticipated us to be here,” said guard Kyrie Irving. “We’ve pretty much broken the mold of what [most thought] we were capable of doing.”
Indeed, this Mavericks season defied expectations from start to finish. Pundits had written them off weeks ago, yet they pushed through to the finals. As they reflect on their journey, there's a palpable sense of accomplishment, despite falling short of the ultimate prize. This series saw the mighty No. 1 seed Boston Celtics, with 64 wins, clashing against a resilient No. 5 seed Mavericks team that clawed their way from being 26-23 on February 4th to an eighth-place finish as recently as March 16th.
Imagine if the Mavericks had managed to win Games 5, 6, and 7. They would have been the first NBA team in history to overcome an 0-3 series deficit in 157 tries—a comeback story for the ages, akin to the colonists defeating the British.
“The world is against us; everybody’s against us right now,” forward P.J. Washington said after the Mavericks’ Monday morning shootaround. “So we’ll just continue to have fun and stick up for one another.”
Just a year ago, the Mavericks missed the playoffs entirely. This season, they aimed to secure their second championship, the first since 2011 when Jason Kidd, now their coach, was leading the team as a 38-year-old point guard alongside the legendary Dirk Nowitzki.
Unfortunately, that 2011 team never got a chance to defend its title due to an NBA labor lockout and salary cap constraints. But this year’s Mavericks squad, built around the 25-year-old sensation Luka Doncic and the seasoned 32-year-old Kyrie Irving, is set to return next season largely intact. Add in mid-season acquisitions like P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford, both 25, and the future looks promising.
General Manager Nico Harrison highlighted this potential. After Patrick Dumont and his mother-in-law Miriam Adelson bought the majority interest in the Mavericks in December, Harrison emphasized that the roster was primed for three solid playoff runs.
“If you look at our team and our contracts and the age of our players, I think everybody’s kind of age-appropriate and in terms of the contracts,” Harrison said. “This is one playoff, so we’ve got two more years to go with the core that’s already together and already under contract and already age-appropriate.”
Harrison pointed out that among Dallas’ top eight players, four—Derrick Jones Jr., Washington, Gafford, and rookie Dereck Lively II—had little-to-no playoff experience before this postseason. Washington and Gafford joined the team only halfway through the season, and Lively is just 20 years old. “When you ask, ‘How do we come back better next year?’" Harrison mused, “Well, can Lively get 10, 15, 20 percent better? We’ve already seen him improve before our eyes."
Excitingly, Doncic is just entering his prime in his sixth NBA season. It’s a reminder that greatness takes time. Michael Jordan’s Bulls took seven seasons to win their first NBA championship, and it took LeBron James nine seasons and two Finals losses to finally break through in 2012.
This season, Boston itself had a rough road, losing six conference finals and the 2022 NBA Finals in the previous eight years. The echoes of those struggles resonated in TD Garden as Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” played before Monday’s tipoff.
Looking back, it took the Mavericks five years to avenge their 2006 Finals loss to Miami with a triumphant 2011 victory on the Heat’s home court. This current Mavericks squad is determined not to wait another five years. And if they return to the finals, they might once again face the formidable Celtics, built around young stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
“The history is there for us to learn from, when you look at great players and the struggles,” said Coach Kidd. “The great ones try to get back to the biggest stage because now they understand experience is a big thing. For great players, you have to fail to understand how to be successful at the highest stage.”
Doncic, who grew up in Slovenia, admitted he didn’t study this history but has learned it firsthand through the Mavericks’ deep playoff runs in 2022 and this season. “It’s a great experience,” he said. “You’ve got to go through lows first to go on top.”
The pairing of Doncic and Irving, the NBA’s most dynamic backcourt, was just cemented 16 months ago. They struggled initially, going 5-11 in their games together last season. However, this season they’ve shown not just compatibility but also dominance.
“At 32, I just feel like the sky’s the limit,” Irving said. “I have an opportunity to be on a special team that can be one of the teams that dominates in this era. That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out the past few years, how to be on a great team, be in an organization where I’m trusted, and also we’re able to succeed and fail together. And doing it in a way where we still have each other’s backs and no one is giving up on the goal. Our goal is still to win a championship. That’s why I play basketball every year.”
As the Mavericks look forward, there's a lot to be excited about. With a young, talented roster and the invaluable experience of this season's playoff run, they are poised to build on this foundation and strive for championship glory in the near future.
Login