Dallas Mavericks earn trip to NBA Finals

MINNEAPOLIS – Afterward, Luka Doncic hugged teammates and coaches, but someone was missing.

As the Mavericks gathered for the Western Conference finals trophy presentation in Target Center following Thursday night's Game 5 rout of Minnesota, Doncic kept gazing around the court.

Finally, he spotted the person for whom he was looking, his father, Sasa. They embraced. Sasa almost didn't make it from Dallas to Minneapolis in time because his original commercial flight had to return to DFW Airport due to storms.

"They had a seven-hour delay, but he made it, so that meant a lot to me," Doncic said.

Sasa saw his son rock the Timberwolves with a dominant 20-point first quarter en route to earning his first trip to the NBA Finals and the Western Conference finals MVP trophy.

Doncic scored 12 points in the game's first 3:32, making his first five shots. Each time he backpedaled downcourt he snarled toward a fan who at the start of the game waved a handkerchief and called Doncic a crybaby.

Dallas broke an 18-18 tie by scoring 13 straight points. Doncic scored 20 of Dallas' first 30 points, largely silencing the crowd in the process.

"It's a good feeling, man," Doncic said. "I can't lie. Just go out there. It's us against them. Just stay together."

And what about that one particular fan, who spent the rest of the game watching the Wrath of Luka, a fate similarly suffered by a fan in Oklahoma City during the second round, when Dallas started this five-game road playoff winning streak?

"I can't tell you," Doncic said, when asked what the fan said. "If I tell you, he might sue me."

Doncic's performance was reminiscent of two years ago, when he scored the first eight points in Dallas' Game 7 rout of 64-win Phoenix in the Western Conference semifinals. By early in the third quarter that night, Doncic had more points (30) than the entire Suns team as Dallas led 65-27.

"Luka came out and set the tone, offensively and defensively," coach Jason Kidd said. "He let everybody know that he was ready to play. I thought we followed his lead.

"He definitely was in Luka Magic mode. I was thinking about whether he was going to play all 48 [minutes]. Why not, if he's going like that?"

Turns out Doncic only had to play 36 minutes, with Dallas taking as much as a 36-point lead, before he and Kyrie Irving each finished with 36 points.

Now Doncic will get plenty of rest before the Mavericks open the NBA Finals in Boston against the Celtics on Thursday.

It's a testament to the Mavericks organization, and Doncic, that Dallas went to the Western Conference finals two years ago, missed the playoffs last season, then catapulted to the NBA Finals with a largely different team – only five players left from two seasons ago.

"We've got a great team," Doncic said. "But most important, we have great guys on the team, from players to coaches to everybody on the team.

"The most important thing is that we stay together and play basketball. I think we beat three very, very, very good teams. And not having home advantage, which is pretty good for us."

There's one very, very, very good team left to play: Boston, the team with the most victories (64) in the NBA this season.

"They're the best team in the NBA," Doncic said. "They had by far the best record. They have some incredible weapons on offense and defense, so we're going to have to play really hard and amazing basketball to beat them."