Mavs Donuts: Top Moments From Thrilling 'Luka Magic' Season
The 2021-22 NBA season didn't end the way the Dallas Mavericks hoped it would, but the team took some massive strides by making it to the Western Conference finals in Luka Doncic's fourth season. Not only was Doncic incredible, as he earned his third consecutive All-NBA First Team selection, but he and his teammates bonded and formed a trust with each other in a way that hadn't been seen in previous years.
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After running out of gas against the Golden State Warriors in the conference finals, the Mavs' focus now shifts to making roster improvements this offseason – either through the draft, free agency or both – in order to increase roster depth.
While we wait on the draft to officially kick off the offseason frenzy on June 23, here are some of the best moments from a special Dallas season... Mavs Donuts style.
DONUT 1: 'LUKA MAGIC' DOWNS CELTICS
Less than 10 games into the season, Doncic got everyone at American Airlines Center out of their seats with an incredible buzzer-beating 3-pointer against the finals-bound Boston Celtics on Nov. 6. Doncic finished the game with 33 points, nine rebounds and five assists in Dallas' 107-104 win.
DONUT 2: MAKESHIFT MAVS KEEP THINGS AFLOAT
Due to NBA Covid Protocols and Doncic battling an ankle injury, things were looking grim for the Mavs after a Christmas Day loss to the Utah Jazz that dropped their record to 15-17. However, Dallas' makeshift roster, consisting of a handful of 10-day hardship contracts, provided a bright spot on Dec. 27, as it defeated the Portland Trail Blazers, 132-117 on the road.
Kristaps Porzingis led the way with 34 points, nine rebounds, five assists, two blocks and two steals. Brandon Knight, who hadn't played in an NBA game since March 2020 until signing a 10-day contract with the Mavs in December, finished with 18 points and five assists off the bench on 6-12 shooting.
DONUT 3: MAVS GET DEFENSIVE ON DIRK NIGHT
The Mavs immortalized Dirk Nowitzki's No. 41 by retiring it into the AAC rafters on Jan. 5. That by itself was a great moment that will never be forgotten, but what happened before the postgame party was pretty impressive as well.
Dallas completely dismantled the Warriors, who, at the time, were the No. 1 team in the league, 99-82. Steph Curry was held to just 14 points on the night, and he didn’t score in the fourth quarter as the Mavs continued their hot start to 2022.
DONUT 4: JALEN BRUNSON BECOMES FULL-TIME STARTER
One of the best storylines of the Mavs' season is Jalen Brunson becoming a full-time starter. After Doncic aggravated his ankle injury on Dec. 10 in a loss to the Indiana Pacers, Brunson stepped in as the starting point guard and averaged 21 points, 3.5 rebounds and 7.4 assists in the 10 games he missed.
Brunson performed so well that coach Jason Kidd started him for every game the rest of the way. After Doncic returned for the first game of the new year on Jan. 2, the backcourt duo led the Mavs to a 35-12 record in 2022.
"We all had a goal of winning a championship," said Brunson. "[I] started on the bench, and then Jason and the coaching staff had confidence in me [being a starter]. Team had confidence in me."
Now, Brunson is set to receive a much-deserved pay raise when he becomes an unrestricted free agent in July. The Mavs say they're making re-signing Brunson their "top priority."
"Be more consistent. [Do] more reps. Watching film," said Brunson of how he'll continue to improve heading into his fifth season. "The little things, the little things go a long way. The Warriors did a lot of little things to put them in the Finals. That’s something I’ll work on."
DONUT 5: DONCIC GOES ON CAREER-HIGH SCORING TEAR
After missing out on being an All-Star starter due to the Mavs' slow start to the season, Doncic apparently used that as motivation for his second-half push. He also appeared to be motivated by the Mavs trading Kristaps Porzingis, although he'd probably never admit that publicly.
From that moment on, Doncic averaged over 32 points per game while shooting 40 percent from 3-point range. That run included scoring outbursts of 51 (career high) and 45 points against the Los Angeles Clippers in back-to-back games. Doncic also dropped 49 points on the Pelicans in New Orleans as well. He scored at least 35 points 12 times in 2022 after failing to reach that mark in the first half of the season.
DONUT 6: DORIAN FINNEY-SMITH SIGNS LONG-TERM EXTENSION
There aren't enough superlatives to express how awesome it's been to see the development of Dorian Finney-Smith over the last six seasons. Not only does he take on most of the defensive burden for the Mavs, but he's improved his offensive game every single year since being signed as an undrafted free agent in 2016.
Finney-Smith finished the season averaging 11 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.1 steals while shooting 47.1 percent from the field, including a career-high 39.5 from 3-point range. In the postseason, he maintained those averages while upping his 3-point percentage to 42.6. Including both the regular season and postseason, Finney-Smith played in 98 games for the Mavs.
On Feb. 12, the Mavs signed Finney-Smith to a four-year, $55.5 million contract extension. Given all that he provides for Dallas, the Mavs should feel fortunate that he decided to sign the deal instead of testing the market in free agency.
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DONUT 7: SPENCER 'BIG BUCKETS' DINWIDDIE ARRIVES
It didn't take GM Nico Harrison very long to make his presence felt, as he shocked the NBA world at the trade deadline by dealing Kristaps Porzingis' max contract to the Washington Wizards for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans. Bertans had a few nice moments for Dallas, but it was Dinwiddie who instantly became one of the team's best players.
Dinwiddie averaged 15.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 23 regular-season games for the Mavs. He shot 49.8 percent from the field during that span, including 40.4 percent from deep – surprisingly efficient numbers considering his struggles in Washington. His knack for hitting clutch shots was on full display when he nailed back-to-back game winners on the road over the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets in March.
When the postseason got underway, Dinwiddie's overall efficiency dropped, but he shot 41.7 percent from deep in the Mavs' run to the conference finals and stepped up in the biggest moments – including the series against the Warriors, despite Dallas not being able to extend it past five games.
Although acquiring Dinwiddie was initially considered to be a lateral move at best, he might now be a fixture on the Mavs' bench for the coming years. At the very least, he's become a much more attractive trade asset.
DONUT 8: LUKA HUNTS LEBRON... AND WINS
Everyone knows by now how much Doncic looks up to LeBron James. Doncic has stated on numerous occasions how James is one of his favorite players, and that he even molded some of his game after James as well. So naturally, when Doncic took it to James on March 1, it became one of the best moments of the season. It almost felt like the passing of the crown.
After leading by as many as 21 points in the first half, which included a massive Doncic put-back dunk over Dwight Howard, James singlehandedly shot the Lakers back into the game in the third quarter. With the Mavs trailing 100-94 with seven minutes remaining in the fourth, Doncic took over the game by scoring or assisting on 12 of his team's final final 15 points to help Dallas finish off a 109-104 win. Doncic called for switches onto James throughout the final period and didn't disappoint.
"The best players, you gotta make them work on both ends of the court," said Doncic in an appearance on JJ Redick's "The Old Man & The Three" podcast. "They do the same with me, they bring me up. Superstars, you know, they play almost the entire game, they keep the ball a lot, so you wanna make them tired working on both ends of the court.
"You just need to go at them. When you have the best players on you, you wanna score, I think it's also a moment of pride too."
DONUT 9: BRUNSON BECOMES PLAYOFF HERO VS. JAZZ
When the playoffs began, the Mavs had home-court advantage for the first time since the 2011 championship season. However, they had to start things off with Doncic in street clothes, as he strained his calf in the regular-season finale.
Many people counted the Mavs out against the Utah Jazz because of this, but Brunson stepped up in a big way, yet again, in Doncic's absence – this time on the biggest stage – to help Dallas get over the first-round hump.
In Game 2 against Utah, with the Jazz holding a 1-0 series lead, Brunson exploded for a career-high 41 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steal as the Mavs tied the series with a 110-104 win. Brunson shot 15-26 from the field, including 6-10 from deep. If there were still any doubts about him securing his bag this offseason, they were squashed after this stellar performance.
DONUT 10: A FIRST-ROUND SIGH OF RELIEF
After the shorthanded Mavs took a 2-1 lead over the Jazz, Doncic made his playoff debut in Game 4. Despite Doncic putting up 30 points, and the Mavs holding a 99-95 lead with 39.6 seconds remaining, a combination of missed free throws, bad defensive execution and questionable officiating led to the Jazz tying the series with 100-99 win.
As deflating as Game 4 was, the Mavs bounced back with a 102-77 thrashing of the Jazz in Game 5 at American Airlines Center. Then, in a Game 6 closeout opportunity for Dallas in Utah, the game came down to the final seconds.
The Mavs led 98-96 with 4.3 seconds when Bojan Bogdanovic got loose for a wide-open 3-point attempt in front of Dallas' bench. As the ball left Bogdanovic's hands, it was as if time was standing still. Luckily for the Mavs, though, the shot missed, and Dallas won its first playoff series in over a decade. The entire organization, from top to bottom, let huge sigh of relief after finally being able to get over the hump.
DONUT 11: 'THE LUKA SPECIAL' ... FOLLOWED BY ALL-NBA HONORS
The Mavs shocked the world by taking down the No. 1 seeded Phoenix Suns in a thrilling seven-game Western Conference semifinals series. It was capped off by Dallas thrashing the Suns in Phoenix for Game 7 by the final score of 123-90. Doncic scored 35 points to lead his Mavs to the Western Conference finals.
After losing the first two games of the series, the Mavs won the next two to tie things up at 2-2. In Game 5, the Suns blew out the Mavs to take a 3-2 lead. In that blowout, Devin Booker unwisely mocked Doncic after flopping and drawing a flagrant foul from Finney-Smith. When Booker finally got up, he looked at a fan sitting courtside and called his theatrics "The Luka Special."
After that game, Doncic walked back to the Mavs' locker room saying "everybody acting tough when they're up!" The rest is history, as Dallas went on to outscore Phoenix 236-176 over the last two games of the series. Overall, Doncic finished the series with more points than Booker, more rebounds than DeAndre Ayton, more assists than Chris Paul, and more steals than Mikal Bridges.
Moral of the story: Mock Luka Doncic at your own risk. Booker and the Suns got a taste of the real "Luka Special."
After all of that, the league announced All-NBA teams, and Doncic made the First Team for the third consecutive year. He joined Kevin Durant, Tim Duncan and Max Zaslofsky as the only four players in league history to make three All-NBA First Team appearances before turning 24 years old.
"It's a blessing," said Doncic. "It's unbelievable, thanks to my teammates and coaching staff. The teamwork. I hope some day it's going to bring us a championship."
DONUT 12: JUST THE BEGINNING
Doncic and the Mavs' magical run came to an end in the conference finals, as the championship-seasoned Warriors defeated them in just five games. Although the series was short, that doesn't mean the Mavs weren't competitive.
In Game 2, the Mavs held a 19-point lead in the first half before completely breaking down in the second half, where they were out-scored by the Warriors 68-45. Instead of stealing home court, the Mavs fell into a 2-0 hole, despite Doncic and Brunson going off for 42 and 31 points respectively.
The Mavs led by nine points in Game 3 and played the Warriors well for three out of the four quarters, but for the second consecutive game, the third quarter was where they unraveled. Dallas was out-scored 30-21 in the period as Golden State went on to build an insurmountable 3-0 series lead.
Dallas didn't go out quietly, though, as it won Game 4, 119-109, in front of the AAC home crowd. Then, in an attempt to extend the series to a Game 6, the Mavs made a valiant effort at pulling off a second-half comeback in Game 5 after starting off in a large deficit.
Overall, the Mavs did well given who they were up against. Lack of experience and depth were the two biggest factors in Dallas running out of gas in the conference finals. As Kidd told us many times throughout this playoff run, though, this is only the beginning for what should be an incredible journey though Doncic's prime years.
"We accomplished a lot with the two words we've talked about: Accountability and chemistry," said Kidd, who was fantastic in his first year being the head coach of the Mavericks.
"Now, it's about what's our appetite come next season? Next season, are we going to be hungry? And then, are we going to train this summer to understand what it means to play until May and June? ... We were able to accomplish a lot. This is just the start of the marathon, the journey. ... I think we've laid the foundation, and now we can start building."
Added Doncic: "Next season is going to go better. We are still learning each other. These guys are awesome. These guys can play. This is a special team. ... There's always things to get better. We can get better at everything, including winning. We improved a lot this year and took a huge step."
