Dončić's Dallas reaches NBA finals in 13 years

The Dallas Mavericks have advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time in 13 years. On Friday, Dallas defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 124-103 in Game 5 of the NBA Western Conference Finals (best-of-seven series) for the 2023-2024 season, clinching the series 4-1 and lifting the conference championship trophy.

Dallas, which entered the playoffs as the 5th seed in the regular season, continued their upset streak by defeating higher-seeded teams: the 4th seed Los Angeles Clippers in the conference quarterfinals, the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the semifinals, and the 3rd seed Minnesota Timberwolves in the finals. Dallas will face the Boston Celtics, the team with the highest winning percentage (0.780) across both the Eastern and Western Conferences this season, which begins on June 7 and follows a best-of-seven format. This marks Dallas's first appearance in the NBA Finals since the 2010-2011 season when they won their inaugural championship.

Dallas's "Slovenian sensation" Luka Dončić was named the Western Conference Finals's Most Valuable Player (MVP). In Game 5, Dončić recorded 36 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists, and he averaged 32.4 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 8.2 assists over the five games of the conference finals. This will be Dončić's first time playing on the NBA Finals stage in his six seasons since debuting in the NBA in the 2018-2019 season. After the Game 5 victory, Dončić remarked, "It has been a really tough journey, but it’s not over yet. We need four more wins to achieve the final victory."


Bo-Mi Im bom@donga.com