Warriors have edge on Dallas in experience, but does that matter?
SAN FRANCISCO >> Before Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals on Sunday, Luka Doncic feared that he might be playing in his final game of the 2021-22 season.
“But I wasn't ready” for the season to end, Doncic said Tuesday. “I wanted to play (more) basketball.”
Then, as he's done for most of the playoffs, Doncic took over the game and led Dallas to its first Western Conference final since 2011.
The Mavericks have won four of their last five games heading into tonight's Game 1 of the conference semifinals against the Warriors, including a 33-point victory that eliminated the Suns, who posted the NBA's best regular-season record.
“I'm sure they're feeling confident,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “We're feeling confident, our guys have been in this position many times, our core guys, I think where it shows is kind of down the stretch like (the Warriors' seriesclinching victory) against Memphis in Game 6. Our guys have guts, not afraid of anything, and that's where our experience helps us.”
However, Dorian Finney-Smith said the Mavericks — while not as experienced as the Warriors at this stage — have moved on from that series win and have turned their focus to the Warriors.
“We got our feet back on the ground,” Finney-Smith said. “We're trying to do something special. We still believe that we have better basketball to play. And to beat this team, we have to play the best basketball we've ever played.”
Tonight will mark the return of the Warriors to the Western Conference finals after a three-year hiatus. It'll be Golden State's sixth appearance in the last eight years. They're 5-0 in the penultimate series under Kerr, with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green being the remaining key anchors of those juggernaut teams.
Kerr said the Warriors lean on their championship experience but it's not a “solution” for success, especially against this surging Mavericks team that appears to be peaking at the right time.
“This is a different version of the Warriors than the team that made the finals five years in a row,” Kerr said. “It's kind of new territory for some of our guys but exciting for us to be here.”
Mavericks coach and Bay Area basketball legend Jason Kidd believes the Warriors' knowledge of knowing how to win at this stage gives them a slight edge. “They've seen it all,” he said. But the Mavericks believe they have an advantage of their own, and that's Doncic, who's been playing some of his best basketball of the season during the playoffs
Doncic averaged 32.6 points, 9.9 rebounds and 7.0 assists in seven games against the Suns. He also has more help around him than during previous seasons, including Spencer Dinwiddie and bigger contributions from Finney-Smith and Jalen Brunson.
“Luka is a little different ... the world has been his stage, and he enjoys it,” Kidd said. “The bigger it gets, the better he plays. So hopefully that's what happens for us.”
Injury watch
Otto Porter Jr. was a full participant in practice for the second consecutive day and will be available for Game 1.
Despite Kerr saying Porter was probable for tonight's contest, the Warriors forward wasn't on the team's injury report Tuesday afternoon.
Porter, 28, has been out since May 11 with soreness in his right foot that flared up in the first half of Game 5 against the Grizzlies. He's slowly been working his way back, doing some agility workouts and light shooting before he rejoined the team in practice Monday.
Porter is averaging 4.8 points and 3.9 rebounds while coming off the bench in 10 playoff games.
On another note, Gary Payton II, who broke his elbow during Game 2 against Memphis on May 3, was spotted without a sling on his left arm at Tuesday's practice while putting up shots with his non-injured right arm.
Payton on Sunday said he'd been doing some strength and conditioning and any activity he can that does not require his left shooting elbow.
Could he make his return during this series?
It's too early to say.
Kerr previously played down the odds of Payton making an appearance in the penultimate series, calling it a “possibility” but also a “long shot.”
Should Payton return for the conference finals, he would be a crucial element to the Warriors' defensive attack and could be another weapon to throw on Doncic.
Klay's keys
What must the Warriors do to limit the damage done by Doncic?
“I would say playing your hardest and trusting your teammates are the two keys,” Thompson said.
Seems simple enough.