MINNEAPOLIS: Luka Doncic had 15 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter to lift 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 the Wolves didn’t stop until a tip-in with 10.5 seconds to go.
Jaden McDaniels had his third straight 20-plus-point game with 24 points for the Wolves, but Edwards — who earned his first All-NBA selection prior to the game, on the second team — was stifled for 19 points in a team effort from the Mavericks. Karl-Anthony Towns needed a late burst to get to 16 points and finished 6 for 20 from the floor.
The star power in this series is strong, and for the first night at least the Mavericks got what they needed from their leading duo while the Wolves largely struggled to run the offense around theirs.
Dallas had a 62-38 advantage in points in the paint to offset a 6-for-25 shooting performance from deep.
Towns came to life with a long jumper, a lob to Rudy Gobert for a slam and a 3-pointer on a 2-minute burst to give the Wolves the lead back with 4:39 to go on the way to a 10-0 run that Doncic ended with a 3-pointer. P.J. Washington, who had 13 points and seven rebounds, hit from deep to put the Mavericks back in front with 1:56 to go.
Towns thought he tied the game with a putback dunk on the next possession, but that was waved off for basket interference.
Edwards, who went scoreless in the third quarter, added 11 rebounds and eight assists.
Neither team led by more than nine. Minnesota host Game 2 on Friday night.
Doncic was relatively quiet until he scored seven straight points over 63 seconds early in the fourth quarter, and the Mavericks stretched that to a 13-0 run for a 97-89 lead that Edwards finally ended with a 3-pointer after another helter-skelter 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 sharp from the Nuggets and NBA MVP Nikola Jokic’s deliberate and powerful style to the pick-and-roll-heavy Mavericks.
Irving’s stunning burst on the break and on the drive presented a unique challenge the Wolves and their league-leading defense didn’t face in the last round, when they held the Nuggets to an average of 85 points over their four wins. The Mavericks frequently sprung loose off screens for wide-open dunks.
McDaniels, who played his usual relentless defense on the perimeter, was the catalyst on the other end of the court too with five 3-pointers in the first half, but Towns had trouble getting shots to fall and Edwards found his driving lanes constantly clogged. The Mavericks have cranked up their defense since adding Daniel Gafford and Washington at the trade deadline, as top-seeded Oklahoma City can attest after losing in six games in the last round.
The Wolves have had the superior depth in each round so far, and Kyle Anderson gave them a vital 11 points in the first half. Naz Reid had 15 points, including a fast-break layup followed by a steal from Doncic to set up a 3-pointer by Edwards at the end of the first quarter that put the Wolves up 33-27 and had the crowd roaring.
The Wolves and these long-frustrated fans have reached unfamiliar territory with this team that has given the franchise just its second Western Conference finals appearance ever. The Mavericks were here just two years ago, but before Irving arrived. He’s the only player of significance in this series with a championship ring, having helped Cleveland win it all in 2016.
