The boy from Maryborough has risen from a relatively unknown player to a key figure in the play-offs after his tireless hustle plays helped fuel the Cleveland Cavaliers’ run to the finals where they will face the Golden State Warriors, who feature fellow Australian Andrew Bogut.

Dellavedova made the inbound pass to Cavs’ superstar Lebron James so he could shoot a crucial game-winner against the Chicago Bulls while he also has enjoyed several double figure-scoring games while filling in for starting point guard Kyrie Irving, who has battled knee problems.

Just as nothing has come easy to the 193-centimetre guard throughout his basketball career, this post season’s success has also come with criticism after some Atlanta Hawks players and a few NBA commentators questioned if he played dirty or tried to injure his opponents after Hawks’ forward Kyle Korver was injured when Dellavedova dived for a loose ball while the Hawks man stayed on his feet.

While Dellavedova came up with the ball and passed it to a teammate, Korver was collected by Dellavedova’s body and injured his knee. As several experienced observers said later, if Korver had also dived for the ball he wouldn’t have been hurt.

Opponents Taj Gibson (Chicago) and Al Horford (Atlanta) were ejected from games in the play-offs after hitting out at Dellavedova when he didn’t stand down against them.

Dellavedova admits he was hurt to hear media and players questioning his motives for diving on the ball.

“I think it’s a pretty serious accusation to make about a player when you use the word dirty,” Dellavedova told Fairfax Media on Tuesday morning [Australian time].

“I was a bit bothered by it when I first heard about that but you can’t control what people think and the video is there.

“You don’t worry about it and focus on what you have to do to get ready for the next game.”

As a sign of how highly Dellavedova is prized by the Cavaliers, James and many others immediately spoke up saying “Delly” was “a guy who works his tail off every night” and the “toughest guy on the team”.

“Lebron didn’t have to do that, I appreciated that and obviously his voice carries a bit of weight so it was nice of him to stick up for me there,” Dellavedova said.

When he first came to the Cavaliers, Dellavedova’s coaches were amazed to see when they looked back at each training Dellavedova’s teams won the most games.

Now he can play with the likes of James and Irving on a strong, athletic Cavs roster, Dellavedova’s poise and smarts are helping them win on the big stage.

Boomers coach Andrej Lemanis said when Dellavedova first went to the NBA that he would win over those who truly know winning basketball.

“He just grows on people, they don’t understand what he gives [to a team] until you get him into your environment,” Lemanis said.

“You start to appreciate how he makes your team better and once coaches start to realise that, they see they need him to play to make their teams win.”

Dellavedova said he had loved every minute of the play-offs and knew he had to keep his focus.

“I feel really comfortable out there and I know I can help the team to get a win,” Dellavedova said.

“It’s still just basketball, it’s the same game and it’s still just as fun – I guess the difference is more people are watching and looking at the game.

“I’m loving playing in the play-offs, it’s really competitive, physical basketball and I’m really enjoying it so far.”

The Cavaliers won’t start as favourites for the championship as the Warriors had a dominant season with guards Stephen [pronounced Stefan] Curry and Klay Thompson, both sons of former NBA players, leading their high-powered offence while Bogut and forward Draymond Green anchor the Warriors’ exceptional defence.

Dellavedova will most likely find himself trying to contain Curry, this seasons’ most valuable player, but the former Vic Country star said he couldn’t afford to think about the magnitude of the moment.

“You are just focusing on what you need to do, if you focus too much on thinking ‘Man this is a big moment’ then you might lose your focus on what you need to do,” Dellavedova said.

“You don’t really focus on that – those other things you can reflect on after the season.”

With the world watching, another Australian on the opposition and, potentially, a major pay rise coming when he enters free agency this off-season - Dellavedova won’t lack for distractions.

But with just four wins separating the Cavaliers from the NBA championship, Dellavedova said he was only keeping his eyes on game one.

“There is a lot of stuff that is going on around you and the team but we’re just focused on what we have to do, focused on the scouting report and recovering from each game,” Dellavedova said.

“So you really don’t pay much attention to what is going on, you don’t notice most of it.”

Whether Dellavedova or Bogut wins, an Australian would have played in an NBA championship for a second straight season following Patty Mills and Aron Baynes’ win with San Antonio Spurs last year.

Game one of the NBA finals will be at Oracle Arena, Oakland on Friday morning [Melbourne time] at 11am with ESPN showing the game live.