The Western Conference Finals begin with an away win for the Dallas Mavericks. Against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Kyrie Irving is on fire – and then Luka Doncic.
The Dallas Mavericks won the first game in the playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves and immediately gained an advantage in the conference finals. The team around stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving won a 108:105 away win in Minneapolis. In an intense game with 15 lead changes, Doncic with 33 points and Irving with 30 points were the decisive players. Würzburg’s Maxi Kleber is still missing from the Mavericks due to a shoulder injury suffered in the playoffs.
“We had to work really hard for this. But this is only one win, we need three more,” said the Slovenian Doncic to the TV station TNT and praised Irving’s strong performance. “Without him we would be finished. I had to help him in the second half, we switched roles this time.” His teammate Irving added: “It was exciting right up to the end and it will be like that for the rest of the series.” Irving scored 24 of his 30 points in the first half. Doncic scored 15 of his 33 points in the final quarter.
To reach the NBA finals, a team needs four wins in the best-of-seven series. The away win is particularly valuable for the Mavericks: theoretically, the team now only has to win home games. The second game of the series will take place in Minneapolis on Saturday night in Germany, after which they will travel to Dallas for two games. In the Eastern Conference, the Indiana Pacers will play against the Boston Celtics, who are leading the series 1-0 after a home win.
In Minneapolis, the teams gave the spectators a consistently exciting performance. The hosts pulled ahead by more than five points several times in the first half, but were never able to pull away decisively. For the Mavericks, it was the first time they had a win at the start after five opening defeats in the previous playoff series.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240523-99-132067/2
2024-05-23 05:52:20
#Mavericks #win #game #Western #Conference #Finals
