MINNEAPOLIS — Luka Doncic led the Dallas Mavericks with a strong game, making some crucial shots late, drawing a few fouls and playing some strong defense.
The Mavericks may not be favorites in another series, but they stole home court advantage from the Minnesota Timberwolves with this promising start.
Doncic scored 15 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter and Kyrie Irving scored 24 of his 30 points in the first half to lead the Mavericks to the Timberwolves 108-105 in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals on Wednesday night. led to victory.
Dallas had a 62-38 advantage in points in the paint, offsetting a 6-of-25 shooting performance from deep.
“I scored an important goal,” Doncic said. He scored seven straight points in 63 seconds early in the fourth quarter, and the Mavericks’ 13-0 run extended their lead to 97-89.
The Mavericks took a 102-98 lead on Anthony Edwards’ 3-pointer with 3:37 left, but the Timberwolves held an 8-0 lead until a tip-in with 10.5 seconds left.
For the first time in six tries under coach Jason Kidd, the Mavericks won Game 1 of a playoff series.
Jayden McDaniels scored 24 points for the Timberwolves, scoring 20 points or more in three consecutive games, but Edwards, who was named to the All-NBA team for the first time before the game, was held back by the Mavericks, scoring just 19 points. I stayed.
Karl-Anthony Towns needed some late-game explosiveness to reach his 16 points, making just 6-of-20 from the field.
The star power has been strong in this series, and while the Timberwolves mostly struggled to revolve around their own offense, at least on the opening night, the Mavericks got what they needed from their top duo.
“The offense was terrible down the stretch. No shots, no turnovers, no composure,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “We have to be better in clutch moments.”
Towns made a long jumper, a lob pass to Rudy Gobert and a 3-pointer in a two-minute rush to give the Timberwolves the lead back with 4:39 left, then capped off a 10-0 run with a 3-pointer from Doncic. Ta. P.J. Washington, who had 13 points and seven rebounds, put the Mavericks back in the lead with a deep shot with 1:56 left.
Towns thought he had tied the score on his next attempt with a putback dunk, but the dunk was ruled invalid for basket interference.
Minnesota will host Game 2 on Friday night.
Edwards, who was scoreless in the third quarter, had 11 rebounds and eight assists.
“He’s a great player. He’s going to need multiple people to take care of him,” Doncic said. “Once he comes at me one-on-one, it’s pretty hard to stop him.”
Naz Reid added 15 points and Kyle Anderson added 11 points off the bench for the Timberwolves, but after coming from a 20-point deficit to defeat defending champion Denver in Game 7 and winning the second round of the series, I had two days off.
The transition from the deliberate, powerful style of the Nuggets and reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic to the pick-and-roll heavy Mavericks, who frequently screened opponents off for wide-open dunks, was abrupt.
They moved with purpose, denying the Timberwolves a consistent half-court defense around the rim for reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year Gobert.
Irving’s incredible bursts on breaks and drives presented a unique challenge that the Timberwolves and their league-leading defense didn’t face in the final round, when they held the Nuggets to an average of 85 points in their four wins.
“He kept us going. Without him, we probably would have been up 20 points at halftime,” Doncic said. “I had to help him out a little bit in the second half. So we switched roles this time.”
McDaniels played his usual relentless defense on the perimeter and was a catalyst on the other side of the court with five 3-pointers in the first half, but Towns struggled to get his shots down. Edwards noticed that the driving lanes were constantly congested.
“Jaden was the only one ready to play tonight,” Edwards said. “And I think everyone else let him down.”
The Mavericks have strengthened their defense since adding Daniel Gafford and Washington at the trade deadline, as evidenced by top-seeded Oklahoma City losing six games in the final round.
Doncic also contributed, blocking a lob pass from Mike Conley to Gobert and making one of Gobert’s three steals with 1:06 left and the Mavericks leading by two points.
“No one panicked. No matter how bad or how well we played, there was just a lot of faith,” Kidd said.
