After the Mavericks finally qualified to the NBA Finals with their Game 5 victory against the Timberwolves this past weekend, team star Luka Doncic was asked about confronting his first-ever opportunity to conquer the Larry O’Brien trophy. This is also Dallas’ third-only time in the last stage of the competition.
The reporter started out by asking him what did he think of Boston and what’s the first thing that came to his mind when imagining this intense clash. The point guard then revealed his humility ahead of this contest.
“They’re the best team in the NBA. They had by far the best record,” he assured this weekend. “They have some incredible weapons on offense and defense, so we’re gonna have to play really hard and amazing basketball to beat them.”
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The Mavs’ success is mostly credited to their superstar duo between the Slovenian and Kyrie Irving, who have powered the Dallas offensive with some memorable scoring outbursts throughout the playoffs.
Due to the duo’s impressive results, rival coach Joe Mazzulla doesn’t believe there is a strategy out there that can stop them. As we grow closer to Game 1 of the Finals, set for this Thursday, he called out the narrative that the series will come down to whether the Celtics can limit Luka and Kyrie.
“The whole thing is that’s what people like to focus on,” the Boston tactician said this past Saturday. “They don’t look at the game as a connected game. If those guys play well, then they beat you. They don’t look at your offense, your defense, your turnovers, your second-chance points or your execution at the offensive end.”
Mazzulla believes they must focus on playing a complete game, not only defending them. “The whole thing that this series is about ‘stopping those two guys,’ there is no stopping them,” Joe explained. “There’s defending them at a high level and there’s playing a complete game because every part of a game is connected.”
Celtics star Derrick White said his team will maintain their game plan as ‘there is no stopping’ Doncic-Irving duo
Despite how Boston will end up facing these NBA Finals, one thing for sure is that the team isn’t going to dedicate their entire strategy to stopping Irving and Doncic. When talking to the press, Derrick White carried the same mindset as his coach over handling their rival superstars.
“We know they’re great players,” the guard said. “There’s really no stopping them. You just try to make it difficult for them. They’re going to take tough shots and they’re going to make tough shots. So, just continuing to trust the gameplan, trust that over 48 minutes what we’re doing is going to work.”
While the Slovenian dropped in 32.4 points along with 8.4 assists per contest during their last series, Kyrie contributed with 27 points per game. However, their biggest skill was displaying clutch performances night after night.
“There’s going to be stretches where they hit three, four, five tough shots in a row, but you’ve just got to continue to keep trusting the gameplan and what’s going to work out in the long run,” White added.
