Former Dallas Mavericks point guard Jalen Brunson experienced some back luck in Sunday’s Game 7 between the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers. He will not return to the game.

MAY 19 JALEN BRUNSON BREAKS HAND IN GAME 7 During Sunday’s Game 7 between the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers, former Dallas Mavericks point guard Jalen Brunson fractured his hand and will not return to the game.

Jalen Brunson (fractured left hand) will miss the remainder of the game.

— NY_KnicksPR (@NY_KnicksPR) May 19, 2024

With the Pacers up double-digits in the fourth quarter, it’s looking like a Luka Doncic vs. Brunson Mavs reunion in the NBA Finals will no longer be a possibility. Dallas advanced to the Western Conference Finals with a Game 6 closeout win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night.

MAY 19 MAVS TOWN! Our man Richie Whitt has covered the Dallas sports scene for over 30 years, with a keen eye – and passion – for both the Mavs and the Cowboys.

But at this moment, as Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving have pushed the local NBA team to the West Finals?

Whitt writes (at CowboysCountry.com): As if the Dallas Cowboys needed more reminding of their desperate need for postseason success, allow us to introduce their DFW sports brethren.

“Last year the Texas Rangers won baseball’s World Series. And now this Spring both hockey’s Dallas Stars and basketball’s Dallas Mavericks have reached their league’s conference finals. … The Cowboys (are dipping) their toe in the unchartered waters of … Irrelevance.

“There is no “rivalry” between teams here. Many DFW sports fans root for multiple teams, or perhaps all four. But the combination of Cowboys’ futility and the success of the other three is prompting a shift in the narrative if not an overall changing of the guard.”

And so … Dallas is a “basketball town,” right!?

APRIL 27 ‘ATTACK ME!’ The Los Angeles Clippers just found out that Luka Doncic can play defense.

The Mavs won Game 2 of this playoff series in part because the Clippers were banking on being able to “hunt” for shots against Luka’s defense … but ended up shooting just 2 of 17 on Tuesday night on shots with Doncic as the primary defender (ht ESPN Stats & Info).

And Luka likes it.

“I accept it,” Doncic said. “It gets me going on the defensive end, too, so if they do want to attack me, that’s fine. I think I played good defense … So, just gotta stay locked in.”

Game 3 is Friday at 7 p.m. CT at the AAC in Dallas … and Luka will be in the spotlight again. At both ends of the floor.

NOV 21 WEMBY’S NBA DEBUT JERSEY VS. MAVS BREAKS THE BANK IN AUCTION – Although Victor Wembanyama’s NBA debut ended up being outshined by Dallas Mavericks rookie Dereck Lively II in a San Antonio Spurs 126-119 loss at home, the rookie phenom’s game-worn jersey from that night just broke the bank in a recent auction.

According to NBA insider Tommy Beer, Wembanyama’s jersey from opening night broke an all-time rookie jersey record, selling for $762,000 after initially being expected to sell between $80,000-$120,000.

Sotheby's auctioned off Victor Wembanyama's game-worn jersey from his NBA debut.

It was expected to sell for between $80k – $120k.

Bidding just closed and it sold for a record-breaking $762,000.

That's the highest amount ever paid for rookie jersey pic.twitter.com/CnAYC7Xtl2

— Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) November 21, 2023

Wembanyama is off to a decent start to his rookie campaign, averaging 18.6 points, 9.1 and 2.6 blocks per game, but he’s only shooting 42.4 percent from the field and 26.9 percent from deep as the Spurs sit at the bottom of the Western Conference with a 3-11 record. Hopefully, for whoever bought Wemby’s NBA debut jersey, the highly-touted Frenchman will live up to the hype.

Mavs fans, on the other hand … well, they hope it ends up being a bad investment.

NOV 11 MAVS ANALYST ROASTS JAMES HARDEN ON LIVE TV – Before the Dallas Mavericks took on the struggling Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night at American Airlines Center, Mavs TV analyst Brian Dameris didn’t hold back when addressing Clippers’ recently-acquired star James Harden.

During the two-minute rant, Dameris details every stop of Harden’s career and all of his abrupt exits, saying, “I get on my knees every night and pray for someone to believe in me like Daryl Morey believed in you.”

Dameris finishes his two-minute rant by noting that if you are continuously moving around and claiming to have bad roommates everywhere you go, perhaps it is you who is the bad roommate. “You’re not the beard, you’re not the system, you’re the problem.”

Harden ended the night with 14 points on 3-6 shooting in 29 minutes. The Mavs walloped the Clippers, 144-126, dropping them to 0-3 in the Harden era.

NOV 10 MAVS COURT ISSUES? — The Dallas Mavericks are playing their second In-Season Tournament game on Friday night against the Los Angeles Clippers, but it’ll be the first one played at American Airlines Center. This was supposed to mean the debut of the Mavs’ new uniforms and court, but it looks like the court is going to have to wait for a later date.

“The Mavericks will play tonight’s game on their core court due to a manufacturing issue with the team’s In-Season Tournament court,” an NBA Spokesperson said (H/T ESPN’s Tim MacMahon).

Although the Mavs won’t be debuting their new court tonight, fans should still get their money’s worth at the game given the star power it will have with Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. Dallas is looking to bounce back from its first home loss of the season, and Los Angeles is trying to win its first road game, so Friday night at AAC should be a good one.

Stay tuned to DallasBasketball.com for extensive postgame coverage.