Minneapolis — Luka Doncic scored 15 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter on Wednesday to lead Dallas to a 108-105 victory over the Timberwolves in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.
Maybe the Mavs aren’t favorites in this series either. However, they stole Minnesota’s home-field advantage with a promising start.
Doncic led a great finish for the Mavericks. He made crucial shots down the stretch, drew a couple of fouls and even played good defense.
Dallas held a 62-38 edge in points in the paint. Thus he made up for a performance in which he hit just six of 25 long shots.
“We made some big ones,” said Doncic, who scored seven straight points in a 63-second stretch early in the fourth quarter to spark a 13-point run by the Mavs, who took a 97-89 lead.
Kyrie Irving scored 24 of his 30 points in the first half for the Mavericks, who trailed 102-98 after Anthony Edwards’ 3-pointer with 3:37 left and before an 8-0 Wolves run that didn’t stop. until 10.5 seconds remained.
Jaden McDaniels had his third game of more than 20 points, scoring 24 for the Wolves. Karl-Anthony Towns came up late with 16 points and finished 6 of 20 from the field.
The Mavericks got what they needed from their leading duo, while the Wolves largely struggled to keep the offense circulating through their own stars.
“We had a terrible attack at the end. Bad shots, lost balls, lack of composure,” lamented Wolves coach Chris Finch. “We have to be better in key moments.”
Dallas held a 62-38 advantage in points in the paint.
After two minutes of attack the Wolves regained the lead with 4:39 left. PJ Washington, who had 13 points and seven rebounds, scored from distance to put the Mavericks back in front with 1:56 left.
Edwards, who went scoreless in the third quarter, added 11 rebounds and eight assists.
“He is an amazing player. We have to mark it with several people,” Doncic said. “If he goes one-on-one, it’s pretty difficult to stop him.”
The second meeting will be on Friday night.
Naz Reid scored 15 points and Kyle Anderson added 11 off the bench for Minnesota, which had two days off after eliminating defending champion Denver. The Wolves overcame a 20-point deficit in Game 7 to win the second-round series.
Por DAVE CAMPBELL/AP
Subscribe to the Al Día newsletter to receive the summary of North Texas news
Join our official Telegram channel to receive Al Día news on your cell phone
2024-05-23 12:05:59
#Mavericks #beat #Timberwolves #Game #NBA #Western #Finals
