Anthony Edwards and his Timberwolves have never been on this stage before, and the bright lights of the Western Conference Finals seem to make them sweat — they’ve led the first two games of this series with 2:10 remaining.
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. So, with the game on the line, he got the matchup he wanted against Rudy Gobert, then hit the shot he wanted, a step-back 3 for his spot. That’s it.
“The play 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 victory, which took them to an impressive 2-0 in the series heading home for Game 3 on Sunday.
Minnesota is kicking itself for letting another game slip away.
“Two turnovers again, the ball was static…” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said of the final minutes. “Same story as the other night, two twists in the game’s innards won’t solve the problem.”
Dallas’ defense once again stepped up and kept Minnesota’s stars – Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns – in check. They combined for 36 points on 9-of-33 shooting (27.3%).
Naz Reid stepped up and almost saved the Timberwolves, scoring a team-high 23 points. He was 7 of 8 on 3s until, in the final seconds after Doncic’s bucket, Edwards threw the ball to him as the clock was running down and Reid’s 3 that would have given the Timberwolves the victory ended.
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 on lobs from Doncic or Irving.
Minnesota learned its lessons from Game 1 and came out aggressive – it wasn’t content with 3s. In the first quarter alone, they took 15 shots from the box and got to the foul line 11 times. Led by Edwards, the Timberwolves were getting down and attacking, and it worked – Minnesota led 32-26 after one.
Minnesota’s relentless attacks on the rim softened up the Dallas defense a bit, and then the shooting passes were there – the Timberwolves were making their 3s. Mike Conley and Reid started 6 of 6 from beyond the arc. Minnesota increased its lead to 18 in the second quarter, however, an 8-2 by Dallas in the final minutes of the first half meant Minnesota had a respectable 60-48 lead at halftime.
Things change from the middle of the third quarter. Doncic began to split the Minnesota defense, both with shots and inside players, and Minnesota’s double-digit lead was cut to two. However, another Naz Reid 3 got Minnesota up 7 at halftime.
The fourth quarter saw things get tighter and the teams traded leads.
But it was Doncic and the Mavericks who had the last laugh — and Doncic told Gobert about it.
Doncic was singing, but he had every right to do so after that performance.
