Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving One Win Away From NBA Finals: 'We Got Some Bad MFers!' - Dallas Mavs WCF Podcast
When Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals was tied at 104-all with a little less than four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving did what they do best by dominating clutch time. Both stars put up 33 points apiece en route to a 116-107 win by the Dallas Mavericks, giving them a 3-0 series lead over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“You got some bad mfers in that locker room," Irving said of his teammates after the win. "Man, we got some guys that don’t care about doing the dirty work and doing the little things for us to win. I think winning becomes the most important thing, so we just want to be remembered as a great team, and not just great performers and individual accolades. That’ll come, but we just want to be remembered as a great team that put defense first.”
On the latest episode of our Mavs Step Back Podcast, we break down Dallas' incredible win from all angles. As good as Doncic and Irving were, big contributions from Daniel Gafford, P.J. Washington and others made sure the Mavs got within one win of making it to the NBA Finals.
“It means absolutely nothing right now," Irving said of potentially being in the NBA Finals. "That’s not even something I’m thinking about. Going into Game 4, it’s still 0-0, and that’s the type of motivation and mentality we had in that locker room. It’s not just me. We feel like the job isn’t finished."
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That kind of mentality is exactly what the Mavs need in order to make sure they bring their best effort to the floor in Game 4 at American Airlines Center on Tuesday night. Irving's demeanor has helped Doncic grow, and No. 77 says he's learning from No. 11 every single day.
“When we were winning by nine the last possession, I told [Kyrie] ‘I’m tired as s***.’ He told me that’s the way it’s supposed to be," Doncic said. "He brought that calmness to our team, to me, the maturity, and it’s been unbelievable to have him on our team. Learning from him every day, positive energy always, just a blessing having him on our team.”
Although the Mavs are still treating the West Finals as if the score is 0-0, we snuck in a quick preview of what a potential Dallas vs. Boston Celtics NBA Finals would look like on today's episode. Thanks for listening, and be sure to SUBSCRIBE everywhere you listen to your podcasts! Stay tuned to DallasBasketball.com for more Mavs coverage.
