The Mavericks finally won a game in the National Basketball Association Western Conference finals. Never mind that they had to first stare elimination in the face before doing so. Perhaps it was just as well. Considering first-team All-NBA selection Luka Don膷i膰鈥檚 penchant for performing under pressure, perhaps it was just as well. Not for nothing does he possess the league鈥檚 all-time-highest scoring average in do-or-die matches, and his relative calm provided those around him with the confidence they needed to exceed themselves.
To be sure, Don膷i膰 stayed measured in the aftermath; he was cognizant of the gravity of the task at hand. No team in hoops annals has ever come back from a zero-three deficit to claim a best-of-seven affairs; in all 146 previous instances, the leads turned into series victories. And the Mavericks aren鈥檛 just aiming to buck history; they need to go through the formidable Warriors in the process.
Don膷i膰 is right, though; as he told TNT鈥檚 Allie LaForce in his post-mortem, 鈥淪wept or not swept, in the end, if you lose, you lose. Don鈥檛 matter how many we win. We have to go game by game. We鈥檙e going to believe until the end.鈥 And, yes, that self-assurance is the first step in undertaking a near-Sisyphean endeavor. Which was why Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd displayed extreme confidence 鈥 cockiness, even 鈥 as he went about assessing how they managed to get over the hump.
Today, the Mavericks will find the going much tougher, what with the Warriors still undefeated at the Chase Center. If there鈥檚 any consolation, it鈥檚 that they know how to compete from behind; they were down two to zero and three to two against the top-seed Suns in the conference semifinals. And should they bow out in Game Five, it won鈥檛 be because they didn鈥檛 try.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since 大象传媒 introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, oprerations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
