When the Dallas Mavericks gained Sport 3 of the Western Convention finals, they put historical past on their facet in additional methods than one. It’s well-known that groups main NBA playoff sequence 3-0 have by no means misplaced. They’ve a 155-0 file in these sequence. And a much more obscure streak favored Dallas simply as a lot. Coming into the Western Convention finals, Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving had a 14-0 file in playoff closeout video games. Any time his staff earned a 3rd victory in a seven-game sequence, they gained the fourth instantly afterward to clinch the sequence.

Till Tuesday. The Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Mavericks 105-100 in Sport 4 of the Western Convention finals, dropping Irving to 14-1 in closeout video games. Thus ends what was quietly one of many extra spectacular streaks in all of basketball. To place into perspective how loopy a 14-0 closeout streak is, the NBA’s all-time longest staff closeout profitable streak belongs to the Cleveland Cavaliers, who gained solely 13 closeout video games in a row. Irving was their level guard for 10 of these video games. He proceeded to win his solely closeout video games as a member of the Celtics and Nets, after which added two extra for Dallas this season to push the streak as much as 14.

However Irving struggled in Sport 4 of the Western Convention finals. He shot simply 6 of 18 from the sector as he confronted star Minnesota defender Jaden McDaniels way more on Tuesday. In reality, although, Irving’s particular person numbers do not precisely stand out in closeout conditions. He is now averaging 22.7 factors, 4.5 assists and three.7 rebounds in such video games, based on Statmuse. He has reached 30 factors in solely three of his 15 closeout video games, and has by no means topped 31.

So as to add insult to harm, one of many prevailing tales of this sequence has been Dallas’ dominance in closing the Timberwolves out within the ultimate minutes. Coming into Sport 4, the Mavericks had a +21 scoring benefit in fourth quarters on this sequence. But Dallas really led this sport 90-89 with 5:57 remaining following an Irving jumper. The Timberwolves outscored them 16-10 the remainder of the way in which to seal the victory.

Happily for Dallas, the Irving streak wasn’t the one historical past working in its favor. That 155-0 streak continues to be intact, and even once you reduce it all the way down to 3-1 leads, groups in entrance by that margin have a 273-13 sequence file for a win price of about 95.5%. The Mavericks are firmly answerable for this sequence even after dropping Sport 4, and may nonetheless attain the NBA Finals as quickly as Thursday. They simply will not do it with Irving’s closeout streak nonetheless intact.