On Saturday, the Dallas Mavericks played host to the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 6 of their second-round playoff series, with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving having the opportunity to send Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his squad home.
Although the Mavericks were the more experienced team and arguably a much deeper team than the Thunder, Oklahoma City has proven to be a resilient team this season while defying the odds over and over again to get to where they are.
That said, Game 6 was expected to be an all-out battle between these two teams that desperately wanted to advance to the Western Conference Finals and that it was with the young Thunder squad refusing to back down to the veteran-led Mavericks.
In the end, the Mavericks proved to be too much for the Thunder, as Irving and Doncic led the team to victory on Saturday night, pulling out a close game to advance to the next round to face either the Denver Nuggets or Minnesota Timberwolves.
As a result of the win in a closeout game, Irving improved an incredible stat for being undefeated in closeout games, which is an NBA record of 14-0, according to StatMuse.
14-0 in closeout games.
The best record in NBA history. https://t.co/mbgJmIvVp2
— StatMuse (@statmuse) May 19, 2024
Here are some fan reactions to Irving’s incredible stat in closeout games during his remarkable NBA career:
kai is the closer
— desire (@dgsire) May 19, 2024
Kyrie is a legend.
— Indomable (@Indomableeeeeee) May 19, 2024
That’s what you call clutch
— ChoZen (@ZenChoZen) May 19, 2024
Mr. Closeout
— Ardeen (@polnovice) May 19, 2024
With Irving and company getting the win in Dallas to advance to the Western Conference Finals, the Mavericks will await the winner of Game 7 between the Nuggets and Timberwolves, which will take place on Sunday at Ball Arena in Denver.
It’s safe to say the Mavericks will be the underdog in the next round, regardless of which team they face.
NEXT:
Fans Are Praising Luka Doncic For His Kind Gesture After Game 6 Win
