The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 124-103, to win the Western Conference Finals Thursday, and the player of the game, Luka Doncic, was seen casually sipping on a beer after a hard day at work. That is until Mavs VP Michael Finley swiped the drink out of the star player's hands.
Videos by FanBuzz
Luka Doncic was chilling with his dad while drinking a beer, and Michael Finley just took it away ðŸ˜
(via @GrantAfseth)pic.twitter.com/5yjKYsstq3
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 31, 2024
Even though Luka is of legal drinking age and certainly deserved a cold brewski after his performance, the ex-NBA player Finley thought it might be a bad look if the 25-year-old is seen celebrating with alcohol in any capacity, as he has experience in recognizing, as a 15-year veteran himself (1995-2010), the media's perception can (already has) blow any situation out of proportion. Furthermore, Finley, who won a title with the San Antonio Spurs in 2007, knows that the job is not finished (as in the words of Kobe), so there is no reason to celebrate until a ring is won.
Twitter/ClutchPoints
Luka scored 36 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and dished out five assists in the Game 5 blowout victory. Remarkably, this was his 58th 30+ point game this season (including regular season/playoffs), which is the most in the NBA.
Notably, the Slovenian got off to a hot start, making the first five shots he took, and scoring 20 points during the beginning 10 minutes of the game.
Coach Jason Kidd said after the game, "He let his teammates know that it's time, and they've got to take it up a notch... He sent the invites out, and they all came."
Luka now has the highest points per game average (34.2) following a loss in NBA playoff history, in front of Michael Jordan (33.2).
Throughout the night, Luka was seen going back-and-forth with the Minnesota crowd, yelling and returning any trash talk coming his way.
https://twitter.com/eurohoopsnet/status/1796415141183201646?s=46&t=XefkerHuIm6GM_ZXVMMI3w
"That gets me going... Everybody knows that by now," Luka said.
To further emphasize the historic playoff run by Luka, he is now only the fourth player ever to drop 450 points, 150 rebounds, and 150 assists, joining elite company: Nikola Jokic (2023), LeBron James (6x), and Larry Bird (1987).
Now the Mavericks will head on to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2011, when European big man Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas to defeat the Miami Heat in the franchise's first ever championship.
Luka will hope to follow in his mentor's footsteps, as he will have help along with superstar teammate Kyrie Irving (36 points in Game 5), who won a championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers back in 2016. To point out also, Kyrie is certainly familiar with their next opponent, as the Mavs will go face-to-face with his old team turned foe, the Boston Celtics; Game 1 will be played June 6 at 8:30 pm ET.
Now if the Mavs win this playoff series, Luka will be allowed to drink all the beer he wants.
Related: Celtics Advance To NBA Finals, As Fans Await Their Anticipated Opponent: 'F*** Kyrie'
