The Dallas Mavericks find themselves in territory charted only by the Miami Heat in 2020.
Superstar Luka Doncic and the Mavericks are just the second No. 5 seed to make the NBA Finals. The first was the Heat in the NBA Bubble in Orlando, where they were defeated by LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in six games.
The No. 5 seed is tied with the sixth and eighth seeds for the fewest appearances in the Finals, with two. Meanwhile, a No. 7 seed has never reached the championship series.
The Heat battled past superstars, including Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks) and Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics) in the East, leaving Jimmy Butler exhausted to face the top-seeded Lakers. Both teams lost three games prior to the 2020 Finals, but the Lakers' having a superstar tandem allowed them to sustain more energy than Butler.
The Mavs are gearing up to face the talent-loaded Boston Celtics (64-18), who won 14 more games than the second-seed New York Knicks. The Celtics are well rested entering the series, losing two games in the postseason thus far. Many are describing their playoff run as fraudulent because of the numerous injuries to their opponents' stars, including Butler, Julius Randle, Jalen Brunson, and Tyrese Haliburton.
Game 1 of the Finals is on Thursday evening in Boston.
Anthony Pasciolla works as a contributing writer to Inside the Heat. He can be reached at [email protected] or follow him on Instagram @anthony.pasciolla.
