The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals on Thursday to advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2011. In doing so, they became just the second fifth-seeded team to reach the Finals since the playoffs were expanded to a 16-team format in 1984, joining the Miami Heat in 2020, who lost in six games to the Los Angeles Lakers in the bubble.
Finals facts: The Mavericks are trying to become the first No. 5 seed to win the NBA championship since the current 16-team playoff format began 40 years ago.
Since the 1983-84 season, only one team seeded fourth or lower has won the Larry O’Brien Trophy, in 1994-95. pic.twitter.com/62bG6b0mB2
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 31, 2024
Read more: Dallas Mavericks defeat Timberwolves in Game 5 to advance to NBA Finals: 3 game-changing plays
The only other team to win a championship without home-court advantage in each round was the 1994-95 Houston Rockets, who swept the No. 1 seed Orlando Magic as a sixth seed in the 1995 Finals, and the Mavericks are hoping to repeat that pattern.
Dallas beat three 50-win teams on the way to the Finals: the Los Angeles Clippers (51-31), the Oklahoma City Thunder (57-25), and the Minnesota Timberwolves (56-26). Only four other teams have beaten three 50-win teams before the NBA Finals: the 1995 Rockets, the 2001 Lakers, the 2008 Lakers, and the 2010 Lakers. All of those teams went on to win championships, except for the 2008 Lakers, who lost in six games to the Boston Celtics. If Luka Doncic can play at the same level as Hakeem Olajuwon and Kobe Bryant (and he certainly can), the team may have a chance to make a name for itself in the history books.
This will be the Mavericks’ third trip to the Finals, but they have never been higher than a three-seed when they’ve appeared — they were a four-seed in 2006 when they lost to Miami, and a three-seed in 2011 when they got revenge on Miami — and they have never faced a one-seed in the Finals, either time Miami played Dallas as a two-seed.
Game 1 against the Celtics begins on Thursday, June 6 in Boston.
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