MINNEKeynote USAOLIS — There were two words Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch used to describe what a 108-105 loss to the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals cost his team on Wednesday. .
“No composure,” Finch said.
The Wolves committed five of their 10 turnovers as a team in the final frame, when the Mavs outscored them 10-3 in the final 3 minutes, 37 seconds to erase what was a four-point lead for Minnesota.
“We really haven’t closed out the quarters very well, nor the halves very well the last few games,” Finch continued. “It cost us a game in the Denver series. It certainly had an impact on this game tonight as well. We have to be better in crunch time.”
The Wolves’ late mistakes erased an inspiring comeback in which they had gone on a 13-1 run in a 4:01 span midway through the quarter to turn an eight-point deficit into a four-point cushion.
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First, Dereck Lively II grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed Kyrie Irving layup with no one putting on the Mavs rookie center. He lofted the ball to an open Luka Doncic for 3.
Shortly after there were three consecutive turnovers for the Wolves. Jaden McDaniels dribbled toward the baseline with nowhere to go, jumped and had to throw the ball inbounds, where Doncic easily intercepted it for a steal that sparked a breakaway that ended with PJ Washington’s open corner 3-pointer.
Karl-Anthony Towns then cleaned up a missed Mike Conley 3-pointer by dunking on the putback, but was penalized by offensive goalie for touching the ball while it was still in the cylinder, a call that was backed by the video replay center. . in Secaucus, New Jersey
Finally, Conley, with the Wolves still trailing by just two, lobbed a lob to Rudy Gobert in traffic that Doncic intercepted for another steal.
“I think we have to do the little things a little better,” said McDaniels, who finished with a team-high 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting. “They had a couple offensive rebounds at the end and they turned into points. So, really, it’s the little things.”
After the Mavs went up by four with 7 seconds left on a pair of Irving free throws, Minnesota received another chance it couldn’t execute.
Improbably, Conley was able to foul Mavs guard Josh Green from beyond the arc with 1.8 seconds left.
Had the 17-year veteran made the first two free throws and intentionally missed the third, Minnesota might have had a chance to tie the game with a tip-in at the buzzer.
Instead, Conley made the first and missed the second, missing the opportunity. For the game, the Wolves were 11 of 18 on free throws and the Mavs were 16 of 17.
Conley said the Wolves’ first-round sweep of the Phoenix Suns and second-round victory over the defending champion Denver Nuggets in seven games didn’t necessarily prepare Minnesota for a final few minutes like the ones they encountered Wednesday.
“I think we haven’t been tested in this way, where we’ve had to trade basket for basket, free throw situations at the end of the game or foul situations, things that we have to be better at,” Conley said. “But we’ll learn from it. I think every game we’ve learned a lot about ourselves, a lot of things we can improve on. Obviously, it’s going to be a long series, regardless of what happened tonight.”
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