Youth movement: NBA’s 20-something stars set to battle in Conference Finals

LOS ANGELES – The National Basketball Association (NBA) Conference Finals will showcase a new generation of stars, as Boston take on Indiana in the East and Dallas clash with Minnesota in the West for a place in the NBA Finals.

Boston’s Jayson Tatum, 26, and Jaylen Brown, 27, are already experienced hands after the Celtics reached the East Finals in each of the past two seasons.

They made it to the championship series in 2022 but fell to the Golden State Warriors, and were then stunned by eighth-seeded Miami at this stage last season.

In the Pacers, they will face a high-octane offence led by 24-year-old Tyrese Haliburton, while in the West, 25-year-old Luka Doncic will lead the Mavericks against 22-year-old Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves.

Kyrie Irving, traded to Dallas in February 2023, has seen close-up what teammate Doncic and the rest of the league’s rising stars bring to the table.

“They have no fear,” the 32-year-old said after Dallas polished off a six-game victory over the top-seeded Oklahoma City in the Conference semi-finals.

“They want to kill our records. They want to kill us every time they get on the court,” added the eight-time All-Star, who won a title with Cleveland in 2016.

“That was the first thing I noticed about Luka, that he just had no fear going against the best in the world. He always walks around like he’s the best player in the world. I think that’s the confidence of a champion. That’s where it starts.”

LeBron James is still a force at 39 but his Lakers fell 4-1 to Denver in the first round of the play-offs.

The Timberwolves knocked Kevin Durant, 35, and the Phoenix Suns out of the first round while the Pacers took care of Giannis Antetokounmpo, 29, and the Milwaukee Bucks, although Antetokounmpo missed the entire series due to injury.

The 36-year-old Stephen Curry’s Warriors did not make it out of the play-in and three-time Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic, 29, and defending champions Nuggets were subdued in seven games in the West semi-finals by Minnesota.

Edwards, averaging 28.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.9 assists in the play-offs, showed his maturity against Denver, shaking off a poor shooting night to dig in on the defensive end and help author one of the greatest Game 7 comeback wins in NBA history.

“I’m not one-dimensional,” declared Edwards, whose stellar season has seen him selected for the US Olympic team.

But Irving thinks Doncic has the edge in maturity as the Slovenian star is in the play-offs for the fourth time.

He believes that the five-time All-Star is set to shine with a new supporting cast around him – not least himself.

The Mavericks, seeking to add to the lone NBA title they won in 2011, will host the Timberwolves in Game 1 on May 22 (May 23, Singapore time).

The Celtics, who share the record with the Lakers for most NBA titles at 17, welcome the Pacers in their opening game a day earlier, with Brown and Tatum aiming to become the latest to lead Boston to the crown.

“We’ve just been in a lot of battles together,” Tatum said of his partnership with Brown.

“Seven years as teammates. He’s been in the Conference Finals six times, this is my fifth time.

“(We’re) really getting to a stage where we understand what we can do individually.

“We know how gifted we are offensively, both of us are capable on the basketball court to do literally everything.”

The Pacers’ Haliburton is in unfamiliar territory, but he can rely on the experience of Pascal Siakam, an NBA champion with Toronto who was acquired from the Raptors in January.

After surprising in the regular season – and earning national attention with their run to the final of the new in-season tournament – the Pacers are out to prove they can use their up-tempo offence to carry them all the way.

“We’re the uninvited guest,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said of sixth-seeded Indiana’s arrival in the Conference Finals. “(But) here we are.” AFP