Dallas Mavericks, Dallas Stars reach conference finals on same day as teams share arena

Marley Malenfant , Austin American-Statesman
·3 min read

It’s not often that sharing a workspace comes with some history.

Since 2003, the Dallas Mavericks and the Dallas Stars are the first pair of sports franchises to advance to the Western Conference Finals in the same year and share an arena, according to WFAA.

On Saturday night, the Dallas Mavericks secured their spot in the conference finals by narrowly defeating the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder 117-116 in a game that concluded at 9:40 p.m. Central Time. Just 20 hours and 42 minutes earlier, at 12:58 a.m., the Dallas Stars clinched their own Western Conference Finals berth with a 2-1 overtime victory over the Colorado Avalanche, wrapping up their series in Game 6.

The last teams to do this were the New Jersey Devils and New Jersey Nets while playing at Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford.

Have two teams from the same city ever played in a championship series?

The National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League run simultaneously, with the Finals in each league often ending within days of one another in June.

According to Yahoo Sports, since the NBA’s inception in 1947, it’s rare for a city to have its hockey team win the Stanley Cup Finals and basketball team win the NBA Finals in the same year.

The closest time that’s happened was last year when the NBA’s Miami Heat and the NHL’s Florida Panthers, who play north of Miami in Ft. Lauderdale, were in their respective championship series.

Who are the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars playing in the Western Conference Finals?

The Mavs are slated to play the No. 3 seed Minnesota Timberwolves. The Stars’ next opponent is still being determined.

The Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks play Game 7 on Monday. The winner of that game will be in Dallas for Game 1 on May 22 and will host Games 3, 4, and 6.

Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars 2024 playoff schedules

Each team plays a best-of-seven series. The first team to win four games is victorious in the series. An asterisk next to a scheduled game means the game might not be necessary.

Dallas Mavericks

  • Mavs Game 1 | Wednesday, May 22 at 7:30 p.m. | Minneapolis

  • Mavs Game 2 | Friday, May 24 at 7:30 p.m. | Minneapolis

  • Mavs Game 3 | Sunday, May 26 at 7 p.m. | American Airlines Center

  • Mavs Game 4 | Tuesday, May 28 at 7:30 p.m. | American Airlines Center

  • *Mavs Game 5 | Thursday, May 30 at 7:30 p.m. | Minneapolis

  • *Mavs Game 6 | Saturday, June 1 at 7:30 p.m. | American Airlines Center

  • *Mavs Game 7 | Monday, June 3 at 7:30 p.m. | Minneapolis

Dallas Stars

  • Stars Game 1 | Thursday, May 23 at 7:30 p.m. | American Airlines Center

  • Stars Game 2 | Saturday, May 25 at 7 p.m. | American Airlines Center

  • Stars Game 3 | Monday, May 27 at TBD | Vancouver or Edmonton

  • Stars Game 4 | Wednesday, May 29 at TBD | Vancouver or Edmonton

  • *Stars Game 5 | Friday, May 31 at TBD | American Airlines Center

  • *Stars Game 6 | Sunday, June 2 at TBD | Vancouver or Edmonton

  • *Stars Game 7 | Tuesday, June 4 at TBD | American Airlines Center

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Dallas Mavericks, Stars reach conference finals sharing arena success