On Saturday night, the Dallas Mavericks will head into Game 6 against the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder with a chance to advance to the Western Conference Finals to face either the Denver Nuggets or Minnesota Timberwolves.
Although the Mavericks are the lower seed in this second-round matchup with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and company, Dallas has been the better team in the series and is favored to come out on top at American Airlines Center on Saturday.
If the Mavericks are able to send the Thunder home tonight in Dallas, it will be more of the same for superstar guard Kyrie Irving, who is used to putting teams away in elimination games.
According to StatMamba, Irving is a perfect 13-0 in closeout games in his NBA career, which is the best record in NBA history in these situations.
Kyrie Irving has the best record in NBA history in closeout games (13-0). pic.twitter.com/KWkRP3FQAr
— StatMamba (@StatMamba) May 18, 2024
Fortunately for Irving, the odds are in his favor that Dallas will get the best of Oklahoma City tonight, as the Mavericks are clearly the better team at this point in time, with Luka Doncic and his sidekick leading the way.
Although Irving has been more of an off-the-court distraction for the last few teams he’s played for, the veteran guard has seemingly found a place where he can flourish while being the second option on the basketball floor.
Doncic and Irving have been able to figure out how to be successful while being superstars who need the ball in their hands to succeed.
It’ll be interesting to see if this team can eliminate the Thunder and if it has what it takes to take down the Nuggets or Timberwolves in the next round to advance to the NBA Finals.
NEXT: Stats Prove Luka Doncic Is Built For Closeout Games
