DALLAS — The contrast could not be more vivid. Juxtaposed, the signature image from last season’s Mavericks playoff collapse is starkly different than “The Moment” of Dallas’ Game 5 annihilation of Utah on Monday night.
Last May: Clippers Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Marcus Morris Sr. glowering over posterized Maxi Kleber, with no other Mavericks in sight.
Monday: Jazz center Hassan Whiteside standing over fallen Luka Doncic, Mavericks teammates Dorian Finney-Smith and Reggie Bullock instantly confronting Whiteside, with seemingly the entire Dallas roster and coaching staff close behind.
Actually, it felt like the entire Mavericks organization swooped into the fray and that 20,000 American Airlines Center fans and were on the verge of joining in.
En masse. Unified with one collective mindset: Protect Doncic at all costs.
“Amazing, man,” Doncic said of Finney-Smith and Bullock. “They had my back. Both of them. Anybody. We had each other’s back.
“I would go with these guys to war. This is a special team.”
Just like last June, the Mavericks have a 3-2 lead in this first-round playoff matchup, and are one victory from the franchise’s first series win since its 2011 NBA title run.
Last season’s Mavericks lost Game 6 to the Clippers in American Airlines Center, as well as Game 7 in Staples Center.
This season’s Mavericks not only are coming off a decisive 25-point Game 5 win, but will enter Thursday’s Game 6 in loud, higher-altitude Vivint Arena having shown collective backbone during chippy play throughout the series, and also by their actions with 5:33 left on Monday night.
Doncic drove, extended his right arm and tried to dunk over Whiteside, who met him below the rim with a hard foul. Amid the brief skirmish that was quickly de-escalated, Whiteside was ejected with two technical fouls and Finney-Smith and Bullock received one technical apiece.
“I [saw] Luka take a bad fall and [Whiteside] stood over him,” Finney-Smith said. “So I just ran over there and tried to protect my teammate.
“It’s playoff basketball. I knew it was a hard foul, but I’ve got to make sure he’s straight, that’s all.”
If anything, the Mavericks can expect even more physicality in Game 6, as Utah tries to stave off elimination and perhaps a breakup of the Quin Snyder-Rudy Gobert-Donovan Mitchell era.
“We’ve been here before,” Finney-Smith said. “We know they’re going to try to hit Luka. They’ve also been hitting JB [Jalen Brunson] lately, too.
“We’ve just got to protect ourselves, protect each other and win games. That’s what it’s all about.”
This is Doncic’s third postseason. Among NBA players who have played at least 10 postseason games, Doncic’s 33.3-point average in 15 games is No. 2 in history, behind only Michael Jordan’s 33.4-point average.
Like the Clippers in 2020 and again last postseason, the Jazz have tried to be physical against Doncic during the two games he’s played since returning from a left calf strain.
Doncic was on a minutes restriction in Dallas’ Game 4 loss in Salt Lake City. But after admittedly playing through rust and uncertainty about his calf in that game, he appears to once again be fully rested Playoff Luka.
Doncic, 23, is also playing with nastier disposition, exuding youthful joy when he makes a big shot and at times contempt toward the Jazz.
He has played with more surliness all season, and teammates seem to be following his example. It’s not that the Mavericks didn’t stand up to the likes of Morris and Pat Beverley the past two postseasons. It’s just that they have more collective grit, in part due to the addition of free-agent signee Bullock.
“The way he plays kind of reminds of me,” Finney-Smith said. “He doesn’t need the ball. He’s going to play the same way, regardless of whether he gets one shot, or five or 10. It’s good to have somebody like that on the court with you.”
For the record, the Clippers’ preening over Kleber last postseason happened with 3:59 left in the third quarter of Game 1 in Staples Center. The Mavericks went on to win that game, as well as Game 2, but that isn’t what people most remember about that series.
What they mostly remember is George, Leonard and Morris standing shoulder to shoulder, glaring at Kleber, exulting Leonard’s massive dunk and Kleber’s misfortune of trying to block it.
And of course everyone mostly remembers Los Angeles coming back to win the series, as well as rallying from 2-0 to beat Utah in the second round.
Now, of the two Clippers victims, the Mavericks appear to be the more steeled from the experience and defiant toward one another.
Especially when it comes to messing with Doncic.
