Luka Dončić named Western Conference finals MVP as Mavericks topple Timberwolves

The Athletic has live coverage of Celtics vs. Mavericks in Game 5 of the NBA Finals

MINNEAPOLIS — During a run-of-the-mill, mundane, mid-January game, or at crunch time on national TV during the Western Conference finals, whether he was proving it with a feathery stepback jumper or screaming it toward the opposing team’s bench, Luka Dončić has been telling us the same thing all season.

You can’t guard me.

The message finally got the response he was looking for: an MVP award.

“It’s a good feeling, man, I cannot lie,” Dončić said.

Luka Dončić is the first player in NBA history with at least 150 REB, 150 AST and 50 3-PT FG in a single postseason.

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Dončić, 25, the Dallas Mavericks superstar, perennial regular-season MVP candidate and reigning NBA scoring champ, was the unanimous choice for the Magic Johnson trophy following his team’s series-clinching win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals.

It is Dončić’s first trip to the NBA Finals in his sixth season. All nine media members voting for MVP picked Dončić. As an aside, veteran Kyrie Irving scored 36 points in Game 5 and averaged 27 points in the series.

Make no mistake, this round, and these playoffs, have belonged to Luka.

“They’re the double-headed snake,” said Dallas center Daniel Gafford, about Dončić and Irving. “We just need to be the tail.”

Dončić scored 36 (including 20 in the first quarter) and had 10 rebounds in the Mavericks’ 124-103 blowout win Thursday night, and averaged an eye-popping 32.4 points en route to being named conference finals MVP. He turned in the signature moment of the series — his crossover, stepback 3 to win Game 2, over Rudy Gobert, followed by a primordial scream in Gobert’s direction that he could not, in fact, guard him.

And Dončić did so much of this while nursing right knee and left ankle injuries.

Now, Dončić and the Mavericks have six days to rest. They play the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on June 6 at TD Garden. Just two seasons ago, the Mavericks were dismissed in the Western finals by Golden State, with a chance to play the Celtics in the finals on the line. Last year, the Mavs missed the playoffs altogether.

“It was a very hard road, but we are here now,” Dončić said.

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Dončić entered play Thursday with the second-highest postseason scoring average (31.0 points per game), trailing only Michael Jordan. And yet he is also leading the NBA in assists per game in these playoffs (9.1).

Coming off a season in which he became the first player to average at least 33 points, 9.0 rebounds and 9.0 assists, Dončić scored at least 30 points in four of the five games during the conference finals. The one game he didn’t reach 30 — Game 4 — was the only contest the Mavericks dropped to the Timberwolves. It also happened to be his sixth triple-double this postseason (he added 15 rebounds and 10 assists to his 28 points in a narrow loss).

Not interested in allowing this series to go any further, Dončić promptly made his first five shots to open Game 5. A couple of them were long-distance 3s — like, St. Paul, Minn., deep — over Anthony Edwards. With each bucket, Dončić’s smirk grew to a glare, to a growl and finally to repeated verbal assaults on the Minnesota bench and some fans who had been heckling him.

“I can’t tell you,” Dončić said when asked what one particular fan had said to him to draw his ire. “If I tell you, I could sue him. But you know, that gets me going. Everybody knows that.”

By the end of the first quarter, it was Dončić 20, Timberwolves 19.

“He let everybody know he was ready to play,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said.

Dallas was well on its way to its first NBA Finals appearance since 2011, and Dončić on his to the Magic Johnson MVP trophy, named after a legendary huge point guard who could dazzle with his passing, scoring and megawatt smile.

Dončić has a bright smile, too. But he’d rather shoot the lights out and tell you about it as your team descends into darkness. Fans on their way to the exits booed him as his name was announced for MVP.

A nice warm-up for what awaits Dončić in Boston.

The Athletic’s Alec Lewis contributed to this story.

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(Photo: David Berding / Getty Images)