May 22, 2024, 11:17 pm Eastern Time
MINNEKeynote USAOLIS — Luka Doncic scored 15 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 108-105 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Wednesday night.
Kyrie Irving scored 24 of his 30 in the first half for the Mavericks, who trailed 102-98 after a 3-pointer by Anthony Edwards with 3:37 left before an 8-0 run that the Wolves didn’t stop for a goal. Enter with 10.5 seconds left. For the first time in six tries under coach Jason Kidd, the Mavericks won the first game of a series.
Jaden McDaniels had his third straight 20-plus-point game with 24 for the Wolves, but Edwards, who earned his first All-NBA selection before the game on the second team, was smothered for 19 points in a team effort. of the Mavericks. Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns needed a late explosion to reach 16 points and ended up shooting 6 of 20 from the field.
The star power in this series is strong, and at least during the first outing, the Mavericks got what they needed from their leading duo, while the Wolves largely struggled to manage the offense around theirs.
Dallas held a 62-38 edge in points in the paint to offset a 6-of-25 shooting performance from deep.
Featured
2 Related
“Terrible offense down the stretch: bad shooting, turnovers, lack of composure,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “We have to be better in decisive moments.”
Towns came to life with a long jumper, a lob to Rudy Gobert for a slam and a 3-pointer in a 2-minute burst to give the Wolves the lead with 4:39 left en route to a 10-0 run . which Doncic finished with a triple. PJ Washington, who had 13 points and seven rebounds, scored from deep to put the Mavericks back in front with 1:56 left.
Towns thought he tied the game with a dunk on the next possession, but that was ruled out for basket interference.
Edwards, who was held scoreless in the third quarter, added 11 rebounds and eight assists.
Neither team led by more than nine.
Minnesota will host Game 2 on Friday night.
Doncic was relatively quiet until he scored seven straight points in 63 seconds early in the fourth quarter, and the Mavericks extended that to a 13-0 run for a 97-89 lead that Edwards finally ended with a 3-pointer after another run-in. possession.
The Wolves had two days off after dethroning defending champion Denver with a Game 7 comeback from a 20-point deficit to win the second-round series, and the transition was abrupt from the MVP’s deliberate, powerful style. the NBA, Nikola Jokic, to the national team. Heavy, rolling Mavericks.
The Wolves frequently lost their opponents off screens for open dunks, and the Mavericks moved with a purpose that prevented the Wolves from consistently setting up their half-court defense around NBA Defensive Player of the Year Gobert at the rim. .
Irving’s impressive explosion on the fast break and drive presented a unique challenge that the Wolves and their league-leading defense did not face in the last round, when they held Denver to an average of 85 points in their four wins.
“He got us going. Without him, we’d probably be down 20 points at halftime,” Doncic said of Irving. “I had to help him a little bit in the second half. So this time we switched roles.”
McDaniels, who played his usual relentless defense on the perimeter, was also the catalyst on the other end of the floor with five 3-pointers in the first half, but Towns struggled to get shots falling and Edwards found his lanes constantly clogged. .
“He’s an incredible player. We have to put some bodies into him,” Doncic said of Edwards. “If he goes one-on-one, it’s hard to stop him.”
The Mavericks have improved their defense since adding Daniel Gafford and Washington at the trade deadline, as the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder can attest after losing in six games in the final round.
The Wolves have had superior depth in every round so far, and Kyle Anderson gave them a vital 11 points in the first half. Naz Reid scored 15 points, including a fastbreak layup followed by a Doncic steal to set up a 3-pointer by Edwards late in the first quarter that put the Wolves up 33-27 and had the crowd roaring.
The Wolves and these long-frustrated fans have entered uncharted territory with this team that has given the franchise just its second Western Conference Finals appearance.
The Mavericks were here just two years ago, but before Irving arrived. He is the only major player in this series with a championship ring, as he helped the Cleveland Cavaliers win it all in 2016.
“Nobody panicked. There was just a lot of confidence, no matter how bad or how well we were playing,” Kidd said.
Keynote USA
For the Latest Sports News, Follow @Keynote USA Sports on Twitter.