By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The Dallas Mavericks got past the first round of the NBA playoffs for the first time since 2011 when they won the championship and it was also the first time Luka Doncic won a playoff series.
“Happiness, man. I think we worked really hard to get here. I think we deserve to get past the first round. Everybody fought their ass off today. We didn’t play good today, but everybody was staying together. Keeping everybody together was the key to win this game,” Doncic said.
It all came down to the final shot by Bojan Bogdanovic though and Luka admitted he was scared. “Oh, man, I thought, ‘He don’t miss a lot of those. My heart stopped.”
One of the things Dallas did great during the whole series against Utah was moving the ball and especially the kick-out after driving to the basket or getting double-teamed.
“I like sharing the ball. If they’re going to [double-team], somebody is going to be open. We’ve been playing against blitzes or hits the whole season, and I think we did great. Then it’s just basketball, four-on-three.”
Next up is the series against the Phoenix Suns who’ve beaten Dallas nine straight times including this season and the bubble play-in. Doncic is aware of the difficulty his team will face and his answer is short and simple.
“We’re going to have to play our best basketball to beat them.”