DALLAS — For a building that has been “rowdy, proud and loud” for two decades, for the video now airing before the fourth quarter — of Kyrie Irving shouting, “Don’t be boring!” – the 20,555 watching Dallas avoid Oklahoma City fell into an eerie silence as PJ Washington drove to the foul line with 2.5 seconds left Saturday night. A one-point deficit separated the Mavericks from a trip to the Western Conference finals, and Washington stoically drained its first of three shots. And then, well, the American Airlines Center is famous for positioning blazing microphones above the rims of each basket, which resonated with every ricochet of Washington’s second, game-winning drive, amplifying the live theater that playoff basketball can truly become while a stadium keeps its collective breath.
In February, as the Mavericks were closing in on a trade for Washington on the afternoon of the NBA trade deadline, Dallas coach Jason Kidd was actually attending a matinee of “& Juliet” on Broadway. His Mavericks were in New York after a game against Brooklyn before that Thursday night’s showdown with the Knicks. “It was a good move for the first 30 seconds,” Kidd recalled, before leaving production to speak with Dallas general manager Nico Harrison and the face of the franchise, Luka Dončić, about the deal.
A year earlier, Harrison was calling Kidd about the unusual opportunity to land Irving before the 2022 trade deadline. Before taking control of the Mavericks’ basketball operations, Harrison was a well-connected Nike executive who worked closely with Irving for years. , creating the All-Star’s evergreen signature sneaker. And Kidd was just leading the New Jersey Nets to back-to-back Finals appearances, while Irving looked up to the Hall of Fame point guard while growing up in nearby Elizabeth, New Jersey. It’s rare to acquire an eight-time All-Star, Harrison and Kidd believed, for a first-round pick, a couple of seconds, plus two rotation players. But Irving’s tenure in Brooklyn, as NBA fans will quickly recall, was derailed due to numerous injuries, personal absences and suspensions, and the talented guard’s refusal to follow New York’s vaccination regulations in order to work – and therefore play. at Barclays Center.
“I don’t have a perfect journey,” Irving said Saturday. “So coming into this environment, I wasn’t sure how we were going to function on the court.”
Many within the Mavericks considered the box office success a masterstroke. Some in Dallas, some around Dončić, thought the Mavericks took a risk on a move that could eventually break Dončić’s commitment to the organization — if the duo crashed and burned like Shakespeare’s tragic duo. Dallas, however, never hesitated. They reached the 2022 conference finals, only to fall in five games to Golden State and then lose Jalen Brunson in free agency to New York. It is much easier to preach patience, dangle trading chips in every transaction cycle, only to renege on conversations in the name of safety and avoiding dangerous risks. It’s much harder to identify and acquire two more complementary starters a year later, as the Mavericks did with Washington and center Daniel Gafford.
After a scoreless start on Saturday, Washington hit two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter of Game 6 against Oklahoma City and then hit the series-clinching free throws to give Dallas a 117-116 victory over the Thunder. Gafford embodied the Mavericks’ grittiest defensive identity since the arrival of his own trade deadline and threw a remarkable block on Luguentz Dort’s corner triple in this one. Dallas harbored a well-known affinity for Dereck Lively II before last June’s draft, ironically landing the bouncing center via a trade with these same Thunder in exchange for OKC guard Cason Wallace. Lively’s swarming surface area with her 7-foot-1 frame, her 15 rebounds, her strong two-handed shooting in the paint all contributed to Dallas outscoring the Thunder by 26 points when Lively was on the floor in Game 6. “He has unbelievable potential,” said Dončić.
He’s also a Duke product, as Irving, also a Blue Devil, reminded Dončić as they shared the postgame podium. All of these plays resulted in the second conference finals appearance in three years in this Dončić-Harrison-Kidd era, a very different team than the young, happy-to-be-here team that fell to the champion Warriors. “Freshman year, our defense was incredible,” Kidd said, “and then our offense joined the party.”
Irving unlocked a different dimension to the Mavericks’ scoring attack. His game seems as light as the feather that often hangs from Irving’s ear when he meets with the media, floating around Dončić’s lead until Irving enters the fray on a gust of wind and intuition. Irving nearly disappeared from entire halves of Dallas’ playoffs, only to catch fire faster than a game. On Saturday, Irving came alive with 22 points, punctuated by a ridiculous triple deflection from the left wing that put Dallas up 110-108 with 3:02 to play.
The victory took Irving to an astonishing 14-0 in finals games over his 13 years in the NBA. Through this lens, the only lens that matters – winning – you can see why those who believe in Irving never saw his arrival as anything more than basketball brilliance. He made one of the biggest shots in league history to sink the mighty Warriors in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals. He can hit game-winning floaters with either hand, and with ease. And, in the right house, at the right time, Irving is constantly lauded throughout the building as Dallas’ unbridled leader.
“Mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and they embraced me with open arms,” Irving said of the Mavericks.
It was Irving who the Mavericks begged to give an impromptu speech in their celebratory locker room. He held back tears, with his daughter attached to his hip, as he thanked all his teammates for their sacrifices and hard work. And then: “All the words of affirmation we’ve been exchanging are a huge help, man,” Irving said. It was he, remember, during a critical Game 3 victory to go up 2-1 in this series, who told Lively to stop running away from Chet Holmgren’s clutches, take the free kick and hit the free throws at the decisive moment. Irving is the one a lot of these Mavericks lean on. “His calming influence with the team. He is never in a hurry. He’s always calm, always positive on the bench,” Kidd said.
Maybe your perspective has come with age and a good, careful look in the mirror. In his first three trips to the postseason, Irving helped LeBron James make three consecutive trips to the Finals. Over five years in Boston and Brooklyn, he never returned to the conference finals until Saturday night. “I took it for granted,” Irving said. He’s 32 now, eight years older than Dončić — the same seniority James offered Irving when they first joined the Cavaliers. For this Dallas duo, their partnership seems to grow as much as their shared gifts. “One important word we both agree on is maturity,” Irving said.
They joke and seem very aligned at this point. When both are asked what the other means to them as a brother and teammate, Dončić leaned into the microphone before Irving had a chance to speak. This time, he wanted to speak first. “Yes, because you give long speeches,” Dončić joked. In fact, these two approach these media obligations quite differently. Irving makes a point of taking the microphone and delivering poetic monologues; Dončić traditionally brief, hunched over, grunting through everything. Tonight, Dončić was as jovial and sincere as we’ve ever seen him—largely due to the man sitting to his left. “When [Irving] came, nothing but supporting everything I did,” said Dončić. “He helped me a lot to mature. I realized I could see the game in a different way.”
Two mountains appear in this exciting song. One of them is a 7-foot three-time MVP and the current Denver Nuggets. The other, a mammoth front line of Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert and Sixth Man of the Year Naz Reid supporting the rising Anthony Edwards. Whether it’s Nikola Jokić or the Minnesota Timberwolves the Mavericks will face after Game 7 on Sunday, Dallas will play its first two conference finals games on the road. That was the same task for the Mavericks to overcome the top-ranked Thunder, and it’s a task Dallas needs to repeat if the franchise is to regain the trophy. Kidd, as a player, helped Dirk Nowitzki win in 2011.
They have as real a chance as any team still standing. This is not the gritty group that Dončić has brought here in 2022. “Now he has a veteran next to him, some veterans next to him,” Irving said. “It’s a different race.” One that would be much scarier than the last one too. Irving himself called this victory against Oklahoma City the most difficult series of his career. Dallas officials breathed a sigh of relief as much as they felt elation at surviving such a dangerous Thunder team. Shai Gilegous-Alexander masterfully scored 36 points from across the court. OKC has not left the impression of being a worthy opponent to today’s Western giants, with rival officials across the NBA acknowledging that these Thunder will have something to say about who represents this conference in the Finals next decade.
Irving doesn’t have that much time, but Dallas does now. The Mavericks deserve outside confidence that they will find more reinforcements to keep this roster fresh at every turn, even if it’s right before training camp, like when Dallas landed another postseason hero, Derrick Jones Jr., last August. (Jones punished OKC’s soft defense against him with four 3-pointers and 22 points in Game 6). Ask Dončić and this is just the beginning for Dallas.
“This group has been together for about five months,” Dončić said. “We are capable of more and more, I think. Just big trades, big adjustments and just…keep bringing them.”
