One step to the left, one to the right and, finally, one back. Luka Doncic provided the choreography and Rudy Gobert he could only accompany from afar. The Slovenian asked the best defender in the team to dance on Friday night. NBA and, not satisfied with this, he stuck a agonizing and monumental triple What did the victory as a visitor mean? Dallas Mavericks ante The Minnesota Timberwolves by 109-108, for the final of the Western Conference of the NBA.
There were a dozen seconds left until the final buzzer when Doncic took the ball with his team losing 108-106. Dereck Lively II cut off Jaden McDaniels and immediately took him to the painted area, leaving all the focus on the figure of Dallas and the 2.16 meter tall French center, near the central circle.
The Minnesota Target Center joined in a request with the aroma of supplication. “Defense, defense”, began to be heard from the stands. But Doncic didn’t care. The Slovenian, despite having to endure an injury to his left knee, decided to play his own music to get a Gobert to dance who was left tapping his feet against his rival’s feints and then watched resignedly as the three-point attempt entered his hoop cleanly. All network.
The Mavericks point guard looked at Gobert, chosen four times as the best defender of the most demanding basketball league on the planet, and dedicated the conversion to him. He even seemed to give him a defiant insult. The Frenchman, an involuntary partner exposed to everyone’s eyes, did not even look at him.
“I’m just trying to find my position on the court,” Doncic said of the game-winning shot. And he added: “I can’t move very fast, but I move faster than him (Rudo Gobert), like I said before, I just try to find my position.”
“Some players score better and others worse, I just try to play basketball. I think we have shown confidence and positive energy, it is never lost until the buzzer sounds,” said the Slovenian, who finished the match with a triple figure on his scoresheet by scoring 32 points (it was the highest score of the game), delivering 13 assists and capturing 10 rebounds.
The last ball of the night was in the hands of Naz Reid, who had hit seven of nine triples for a total of 23 points. However, that decisive attempt, just as the horn sounded, hit the rim and went out, sentencing the defeat of a Minnesota team that wasted an 18-point lead achieved during the first half.
With a 2-0 lead in the series, Dallas will host the Timberwolves at the American Airlines Center on Sunday at 9 p.m. (Argentine time), where they will seek to take one more step towards the NBA grand final.
2024-05-25 05:34:00
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