Doncic, who had dragged an otherwise unremarkable Mavericks team through the Western Conference, became the face of their failure. Dallas coach Jason Kidd was forced to come out and defend his maligned star, even though without Doncic, the Mavericks were a faded Kyrie Irving and a bunch of role players.

Anthony Davis faced the media for the first time as a member of the Dallas Mavericks, days after the Los Angeles Lakers traded him to the Mavs as part of a package for Luka Doncic. Davis, 31, has been an NBA All-Star 10 times and an All-NBA player five times.

A five-time All-NBA first-teamer who is only 25 years old, Doncic was traded Sunday for Lakers big man Anthony Davis in a deal that caught everyone in the league by surprise. Dall

Klay Thompson scored 25 points as Dallas beat the Boston Celtics 128-120 on Thursday night in their NBA Finals rematch.

Klay Thompson scored 25 points and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Boston Celtics 127-120 on Thursday night in their NBA Finals rematch.

With a starting lineup of Klay, Kessler Edwards, Daniel Gafford, Dante Exum, and Kyrie Irving, the Mavericks jumped out to an early eight-point lead, and maintained a distance of