Stars find extra motivation during Mavericks’ trip to the NBA Finals

DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks advanced to the NBA Finals on Thursday night. The Dallas Stars said it was added motivation to advance to their own championship round — and potentially make sports history in the process.

“I think it pushes you to get to the same point,” Stars captain Jamie Benn said Friday, before Game 5 against the Edmonton Oilers with their series tied 2-2. “Obviously we want to go to the finals here. We have a best-of-three, with home ice, to get there. Seeing the Mavs almost reach their goal of winning, we want to be there too.”

No city or region has had teams win the NBA and NHL championships in the same season.

Teams from the same city/region have advanced to their respective Finals 10 times, most recently the Florida Panthers and Miami Heat in 2023. In those scenarios, the NBA team won and the NBA team won the NHL has lost three times; the NHL team won and the NBA team failed twice; and both teams lost five times in the final.

The Mavericks and Stars both play at the American Airlines Center. Fans were already lining up outside the arena for NBA Finals tickets when the Stars took the ice for an optional practice at 10:30 a.m. Friday.

Forward Wyatt Johnston, in his second year in the NHL, said he wasn’t the biggest basketball fan growing up in Toronto, but was part of the streak of success of the Mavericks.

“Playing in the same arena, being around a team like the Mavs and definitely getting a lot more involved there, especially in this playoff run for them,” he said. “The games are really exciting, it’s fun to watch, and I mean, it’s great for the city to have two teams going deep. It motivates us.”

It’s been quite a ride for Dallas sports – with the notable exception of the Cowboys. The Stars have reached the Western Conference Finals in consecutive seasons and reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 2020. The Mavericks, led by star Luka Doncic, have reached the conference finals in two of the last three seasons before advancing to the NBA Finals this year to face the Boston Celtics.

But Benn noted that the spark for that fan enthusiasm in Dallas was the Texas Rangers’ World Series victory last season, the first championship in team history.

“The Stars and Mavericks also received some motivation from the Rangers. They started this project last October and had the city buzzing. It’s a great time to be a sports fan here in Dallas,” did he declare.

The Stars lost Game 4 in Edmonton on Tuesday night and lost key defenseman Chris Tanev to a foot injury during that game. Coach Pete DeBoer said Friday that Tanev was a game-time decision, but that he was “optimistic” the defenseman will play in Game 5.

“He’s a warrior. I knew that before he even got here, playing against him,” Benn said. “He really does anything and everything to help his team. He pays the price to give his team the best chance to win.”