Starting 5 Daily Newsletter

Starting 5, May 25: Luka Magic Strikes In Minnesota

Luka Doncic's game-winning 3 puts the Mavs up 2-0 in the West Finals. Plus, get ready for Celtics-Pacers Game 3.

May 25, 2024 1:36 PM

When the one shot you hit in the 4th quarter is the game-winner.

THE LINEUP 🏀

Luka, Mavs Win: Doncic hit the game-winning 3 with 3 seconds left to put Dallas up 2-0

More Luka Magic: Friday’s game-winner was the latest in a collection of clutch Luka shots

One Streak Survives: Indy’s unbeaten at home (6-0), Boston’s unbeaten on the road (4-0)

Raising His Game: Jaylen Brown worked on his game and it’s paying off in the playoffs

2000s 2K Club: Tatum & Brown join an elite list of teammates to score 2K playoff points

BUT FIRST … ⏰

Tonight on ABC (8:30 ET), the East Finals resume with Game 3 in Indiana. The Pacers are undefeated at home this postseason, but the Celtics have yet to lose on the road.

Friday night in L.A., Caitlin Clark and the Fever got their first win over Cameron Brink and the Sparks. Clark (11 pts, 10 reb, 8 ast) hit the dagger 3 (and the shrug) to put Indy up 76-71 with 40 seconds left.

1. LUKA WINS IT, MAVS TAKE 2-0 LEAD

Luka Doncic made one shot in the 4th quarter. And it was one of the biggest of his career.

With the Mavs down two with 12.8 seconds left, Luka took the inbounds pass, got a switch to go one-on-one with Rudy Gobert, used his dribble to dance side-to-side, then stepped back to launch a 24-foot 3 that splashed with three seconds left.

🗣️ Luka: “I was just trying to get to my spot and step back. I’m confident in that shot.”

The Wolves had a chance for the win as Anthony Edwards found Naz Reid open for 3 at the buzzer.

Reid was 7-of-8 from 3 when the shot left his hands. He was 7-of-9 when the buzzer sounded. The miss sealed a 109-108 win and a 2-0 series lead for Dallas. | Recap

Luka’s game-winner was the 11th lead change of the 4th quarter as the teams traded shots down the stretch. | Must-See Final 5:18

Kyrie Irving scored 13 of his 20 points in the 4th, shooting 4-of-5 from deep along with three assists, as Dallas won the period 30-22

Another Triple-Double: Luka (32 pts, 10 reb, 13 ast) posted his fifth triple-double of the playoffs (matching all other players combined total) and his fourth in the past five games.

Luka joined Nikola Jokic, Magic Johnson and Wilt Chamberlain as the only players with a run of four triple-doubles in five playoff games

Luka played a game-high 41:27 on Friday despite going back to the locker room multiple times, as he continues to battle through injuries

Nine of Luka’s 13 assists went to Daniel Gafford (5) and Dereck Lively II (4) as the two bigs combined for 30 points on 14-of-16 shooting with 14 boards and five blocks

Comeback Mavs: For the second time in three games, the Mavs rallied back from a huge deficit to win by one.

In the series-clinching Game 6 win over OKC, Dallas trailed by 17 in the 3rd quarter before battling back to win 117-116

In Game 2 against the Wolves, Dallas trailed by 18 with 3:26 left in the 1st half. The Mavs cut the lead to 12 at the break and kept chipping away until taking an 87-86 lead with 10:22 to play – it was Dallas’ first lead since 7-6 in the 1st quarter

Turning Tables: Last round, the Wolves went into Denver and won the first two games on the road before winning the series in seven games.

Now, they’ve dropped the first two at home and must win at least two games in Dallas to advance.

Reid led the Wolves with 23 points in 32 minutes off the bench, while Anthony Edwards had 21 points and seven assists but shot just 29.4% from the field

2. LUKA MAGIC STRIKES IN MINNESOTA

We’ve seen game-winning shots from Luka Doncic before.

Five to be exact since he entered the NBA in 2018 – tied for seventh most in that span

But this was his first on the conference finals stage. And his first to put the Mavs two wins away from their first trip to the Finals since 2011.

A stepback 3 from 24.85 feet over the reigning and four-time Kia Defensive Player of the Year

It was the latest in a growing collection of clutch buckets from Luka

Rare Air: Luka’s shot was only the sixth game-winning 3-pointer with four seconds or less in the conference finals of the play-by-play era – and only the second on the road.

We had to hit the archive to watch these clutch buckets again.

Anthony Davis: L.A. Lakers vs. Denver, Game 2 (9/20/2020)

Avery Bradley: Boston at Cleveland, Game 3 (5/21/2017)

LeBron James: Cleveland vs. Orlando, Game 2 (5/22/2009)

Robert Horry: L.A. Lakers vs. Sacramento, Game 4 (5/26/2002)

Reggie Miller: Indiana vs. Chicago, Game 4 (5/25/1998)

The History: Luka now holds the highest scoring average in Game 2s in NBA playoff history (min. five games played, best-of-3+ series only).

Luka Doncic: 33.9 points per game

Michael Jordan: 33.3

Jerry West: 31.3

Dominique Wilkins: 29.4

George Gervin: 28.3

3. GAME 3: SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE

Collision Course: The Pacers are undefeated on their home floor this postseason (6-0) yet return home facing a 2-0 deficit for the second straight series.

Tonight, they host the Celtics — who are unbeaten on the road in the playoffs (4-0) — in Game 3 of the East Finals (8:30 ET, ABC).

A Rare Occurrence: Tonight is the first time since the 2013 Heat-Pacers series that an undefeated home team will host an undefeated road team in the conference finals

The Result: Miami (4-0 on the road) won Game 3 in Indiana (6-0 at home) and claimed the series in seven games

Pacers 🤝 Raptors? Indiana looks to become the first team since the 2019 NBA champion Raptors to win a conference finals after losing the first two games of the series (vs. Milwaukee)

Pascal Siakam played for that Toronto team and was acquired by the Pacers this January for his championship pedigree. Tonight, Indy may need him more than ever.

🗣️ Coach Rick Carlisle on Siakam: “That guy’s unbelievable. His experience in the playoffs is so valuable. He’s not a guy who’s going to get rattled by anything.”

Haliburton Update: Siakam may be without co-star Tyrese Haliburton, who will be a game-time decision with left hamstring soreness — the same injury that kept him out 10 games in January

Indy Without Haliburton: Siakam was acquired on Jan. 20 with Haliburton still injured and has gone 3-2 as a Pacer without him. In total, Indiana is 7-6 this season without Haliburton

Pumped-Up Pascal: Siakam, averaging playoff career-highs (min. 20 min/g) in FG% (55.1), 3P% (34.1), and rebounds (7.7) while posting 21.7 ppg, is eager to protect home court in Game 3.

🗣️“The games have so much energy… We can’t wait to see the fans out there on Saturday — we’re just so excited.”

4. JAYLEN BROWN: A NEW LEVEL

The Situation: Jaylen Brown’s 40-point outburst on Thursday gave the Celtics their first Game 2 victory of the postseason and a 2-0 lead heading into tonight’s Game 3 (8:30 ET, ABC).

The Significance: Brown didn’t just tie his playoff career-high and match the third-most points in Celtics history in an East Finals game — he marked the culmination of a season that’s seen him take his game to new heights.

The Road: After falling in the 2023 East Finals, Brown returned this season and talked about his desire to improve as a playmaker.

🗣️ Brown In November 2023: “That’s the role that I want. That’s the role that I want to improve in. Teams are going to continue to try to take away certain things from me… so it’s a balance.”

Four months later, he sees the results — using the entire floor to attack while distributing and scoring more efficiently.

Left Is Right: This season, 57.3% of Brown’s drives are to his left — versus 46.5% last season

One Result: JB’s more balanced attack has helped increase his scoring frequency on isolations from the 54th percentile last season to 60th this season

Assists/Turnovers: Brown posted career-highs in assists (3.6 apg) and assist/turnover ratio (1.5) this season

Shooting: Despite taking his fewest shots per game (17.9) since 2020 and his fewest 3s per game (5.9) since 2019-20, Brown averaged 23.0 ppg this season on a career-high 49.9% field goal percentage

🗣️ Brown In March 2024: “I feel like I improved on a lot of the stuff I needed to work on… Improve my mentality and attack my weaknesses. Some of the stuff that you could say about me last year, you can’t say this year.”

The Return: Brown, averaging a playoff career-high in points (24.8) and FG% (54.4%), has seen his individual numbers balloon but says the root of his motivation comes from last year’s Game 7 ECF loss to the Heat.

🗣️ Brown’s Motivation: “The loss. When you come up short on your home floor… We’ve had embarrassments, we’ve had mistakes. And I’ve used it all to improve.”

5. 2000s 2K CLUB

Speaking of Jaylen Brown, he hit 2,000 career playoff points on May 13 (Game 4 vs. Cleveland), putting himself and Jayson Tatum on an elite list of teammates to each reach 2K postseason points since 2000.

The List? You know, just Shaq & Kobe, KD & Russ, the Splash Bros., and a trio named Tim, Tony & Manu.

So, before you start your Saturday, watch a few of the greatest 1-2 punches (and an all-time trio) of the past quarter-century go to work…