After 5 games, The Golden State Warriors advanced to the NBA Finals with a 120-110 win over the Dallas Mavericks, winning the series 4-1
There’s an old saying that when Klay Thompson has a great game, the Warriors always win. Well, he was excellent here. Klay led the game in scoring, recording 32 points, two rebounds and three assists. The Warriors guard entered Thursday averaging 19 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game during the playoffs.
“We saw what he went through these last two years, every single day rehabbing, grinding, putting his body back on the line to be back out here, for this moment,” Steph Curry said to TNT about Thompson. Steph Curry won the Magic Johnson Western Conference finals MVP. He averaged 23.8 points per game against the Mavericks.
Dallas star man, Luka Doncic tried his best to keep the Mavericks in the game. He did his bit by putting up 28 points on 10-of-28 shooting from the field. Spencer Dinwiddie provided 26 points off the bench.
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The Warriors have really exceeded expectations throughout the season. They ended the regular season (53-29) as third in the Western Conference. This is the franchise’s 12th appearance in the finals and they’re looking to win their seventh championship. As things stand, the Warriors will face either the Boston Celtics or Miami Heat. Boston leads the Eastern Conference finals 3-2 entering Game 6 on Friday.
What Next For Dallas?
The Dallas Mavericks showed a lot of determination and tenacity through the entire postseason. The future of this franchise hangs on the shoulders of starman Luka Doncic and rightly so. The meetings should be about how the Mavs plan to build around Doncic. One constant theme has been how he has worn down late in games defensively due to his offensive load. The Mavs definitely need another facilitator as well as a rim protector. They were out-rebounded by the Warriors in every game. As Jason Kidd said afterward, “This is just the start of the journey.”
