Kleber and Theis celebrate semi-finals in the NBA

Phoenix/Boston. Edelfan Dirk Nowitzki gave a high five after the gala in Phoenix on the floor with the new heroes of the Dallas Mavericks. “What did I tell you?” the former superstar of the NBA team asked the professionals around national player Maxi Kleber over and over again when the jump to the semifinals was certain. Dallas has come this far for the first time since winning the title in 2011, and anything seems possible.

With a 123-90 blowout, the Texans eliminated the Suns in the crucial seventh playoff quarterfinal, now it’s up to the Golden State Warriors. If it works out in the final, there could even be a German duel. Daniel Theis celebrated a 109:81 win over champions Milwaukee Bucks with the Boston Celtics and is also in the semifinals in the East after a 4:3 win – Miami Heat is waiting.

Luka Doncic towers over Dallas win

“It’s just incredible, I have no words,” said Mavs key player Luka Doncic, who had scored as many points as the entire Suns team (27) before the break. Dallas played furiously away and led clearly early on, Phoenix with their top stars Devin Booker (11 points) and Chris Paul (10) simply had no chance.

Nowitzki was feverish in the hall, the club’s advisor wore a blue shirt with Mavericks lettering and whispered a few words in the ear of top scorer Doncic (35 points, 10 rebounds) after the win. “I can’t get the smile off my face,” said the Slovenian later: “We deserve it.” Defense specialist Kleber (30) played a good 21 minutes, hit his only throw (from the three-point line), recorded four rebounds and three (! ) blocks. Among other things, there was a particularly spectacular one against Paul.

Dallas hadn’t won a playoff series since winning the title eleven years ago. Now, under the new head coach Jason Kidd, member of the championship team, only one step is missing to the finals. And that is possible. After all, runner-up Phoenix had completed the main round with the best record.

Celtics beat defending champions Milwaukee Bucks

The Celtics cleared a similarly larger chunk out of the way. The record champion swept away defending champion Milwaukee impressively, superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo (25 points, 20 rebounds) is only a spectator in the play-offs.

Boston was able to rely primarily on Jayson Tatum (23 points) and Grant Williams (27). Theis remained without a point in six minutes and got three rebounds. “A great team effort throughout the series,” the 30-year-old wrote on Instagram. “Let’s continue like this.”

It is not the first time that two Germans are in the semi-finals. In 1988, Detlef Schrempf and Uwe Blab also got that far – with Dallas. (sid)