The conference finals are officially underway. Four teams will vie for the chance to compete for a championship and while this year’s NBA Final Four doesn’t feature the Mavericks, there aren’t many degrees of separation from participating teams to the defending Western Conference champions — a title Dallas has owned for nearly the last year.

The Dallas Mavericks lucked out, landing the No.1 overall pick, giving them a chance to select Duke phenom Cooper Flagg, a player widely regarded as a generational talent. The top-pick player is seen as a significant turning point for a franchise that endured a turbulent couple of months following an NBA Finals run just a season ago.

A surprise Western Conference team has emerged as one of the favorites to land Austin Reaves from the Los Angeles Lakers in the offseason.

Dallas and Edmonton in the playoffs for the eighth time, dueling it out in another Western Conference finals that starts here at the AAC at 7 on

The Dallas Mavericks stunned the NBA in February when they traded five-time All-NBA first teamer Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers. The move sparked an open rebellion among Mavericks fans, who started a movement to fire Dallas general manager Nico Harrison.

The Stars in the Western Conference Finals forces Katy Perry to move her concert at the American Airlines Center.

Two years ago, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves met in the play-in tournament to determine which would get the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference playoffs.