Anthony Edwards and his Timberwolves have never been on this stage before, and the bright lights of the Western Conference Finals seem to be making them sweat; they have led the first two games in this series with 2:10 to go.
Minnesota is 0-2.
Luka Doncic has been here before – and he lives for these moments.
Doncic had 15 points in the fourth quarter for the Mavericks as part of a comeback. With the game on the line, he got the matchup he wanted with Rudy Gobert, and then got the shot he wanted, a step back from 3 for his spot. That was it.
“The goal was to get Luka the ball and let Luka do what Luka does in those moments,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said of his late-game strategy.
What Luka did in those moments was give Dallas a 109-108 win, giving them a commanding 2-0 series lead heading home for Game 3 on Sunday.
Minnesota is kicking themselves for letting another game get away.
“Two more turnovers, the ball became static…” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said of the final few minutes. “The same story as last night: losing the ball twice in the game won’t get you out.”
Dallas’ defense stepped up again and kept Minnesota’s stars – Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns – in check. They combined to score 36 points on 9-of-33 shooting (27.3%).
Naz Reid stepped up and nearly saved the Timberwolves, scoring a team-high 23 points. He was 7 of 8 from 3 until, in the final seconds of Doncic’s bucket, Edwards threw him the ball with the clock winding down and Reid’s 3 that would have given the Timberwolves the win.
Doncic had a triple-double of 32 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds. Kyrie Irving had another strong game with 20 points, and centers Daniel Gafford and Derreck Lively II combined for 30 points, mostly off lobs from Doncic or Irving.
Minnesota learned its lessons from Game 1 and came out aggressive – it didn’t settle for 3s. In the first quarter alone, they had 15 shots in the paint and reached the foul line 11 times. Led by Edwards, the Timberwolves went downhill and attacked, and it worked: Minnesota led 32-26 after one.
Minnesota’s relentless attacks at the rim softened Dallas’ defense a bit, and then the kickout passes were there: the Timberwolves made their 3s. Mike Conley and Reid started 6-of-6 from beyond the arc. Minnesota increased their lead to 18 in the second quarter, but an 8-2 run by Dallas in the final minutes of the first half made it a respectable 60-48 Minnesota lead at halftime.
Things will change from the middle of the third quarter. Doncic began to split Minnesota’s defense, both with shots and finding guys inside, and Minnesota’s double-digit lead was down to two. However, another Naz Reid 3 reached a Minnesota lead of 7 at the break.
Things got tighter in the fourth quarter and the teams traded leads back and forth.
But it was Doncic and the Mavericks who had the last laugh – and Doncic let Gobert know about it.
Doncic was whistling, but he had every right to do so after that performance.
