Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) celebrates with Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11). Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Luka Doncic remains confident Mavericks can win West

By Criss Partee | Last updated 5/11/24

The Dallas Mavericks should be feeling good after taking a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday.

Dallas dropped Game 1 in Oklahoma City only to bounce back and steal Game 2, then followed that up on Saturday in comeback fashion to win Game 3.

Mavs superstar Luka Doncic talked about his confidence in the team and how far he believes it can go after the Game 3 victory.

Mavs star Luka Doncic on the team’s confidence:

“If you’re here you got to believe. I believe we can (win the West) but it’s going to be hard. We didn’t do nothing yet. We won two games and we need to win four.” pic.twitter.com/1QZ5ImkNJV
— Noah Weber (@noahweber00) May 11, 2024

Dallas certainly is believing now, as it sits just two wins away from a second Western Conference Finals appearance in three years. A third consecutive win on Monday in Dallas would be back-breaking for the Thunder. While we’ve seen teams come back from 3-1 deficits, they don’t happen all that frequently.

Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets were the last team to dig themselves out of a 3-1 hole, and they did it in back-to-back series during the 2020 bubble playoffs in Orlando. The Nuggets overcame the odds to beat the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers.

But that’s not a position a young team like OKC wants to be in so Monday’s Game 4 will be considered a must-win situation. As confident as Doncic, Kyrie Irving and the Mavs are looking, they’ll certainly be looking to put the Thunder away sooner rather than later.

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