Luka Doncic helps Mavs take down Wolves in Game 1
Luka Doncic scored 33 points, including 15 in the fourth quarter, and the Dallas Mavericks outlasted the Minnesota Timberwolves for a 108-105 win in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Wednesday night in Minneapolis.
Kyrie Irving added 30 points on 12-for-23 shooting for Dallas. Daniel Gafford (10 points, nine rebounds) and Dereck Lively II (nine points, 11 rebounds) narrowly missed double-doubles.
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Jaden McDaniels scored 24 points and made 6 of 9 attempts from beyond the arc to lead the Timberwolves. Anthony Edwards finished with 19 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, and Karl-Anthony Towns scored 16.
The Mavericks outscored Minnesota 26-22 in the fourth quarter to help secure the three-point win.
Dallas went on a 13-0 run to seize a 97-89 lead with 7:38 to go. Doncic started the run with seven straight points and he finished it with a pair of free throws.
Minnesota responded with a 10-1 run to grab a 99-98 edge with 4:39 left. Towns hit a 3-pointer from 28 feet to put the Timberwolves on top.
After a timeout, Edwards made a 3-pointer to increase Minnesota’s lead to 102-98 with 3:37 to play.
The Mavericks answered with back-to-back 3-pointers by Doncic and P.J. Washington to go ahead 104-102 with 1:56 left. Doncic followed with a step-back jump shot to make it 106-102 with 49.2 seconds to go.
Dallas maintained the lead the rest of the way.
The Timberwolves clung to an 83-82 advantage at the end of the third quarter.
Gafford threw down a pair of alley-oop dunks to start the second-half scoring for the Mavericks. Derrick Jones Jr. followed a couple minutes later with a dunk that put Dallas on top 67-66 for its first lead since the opening quarter.
Minnesota led 62-59 at halftime. McDaniels had 19 points before the break, which marked a playoff career high for him in any half.
The Timberwolves led by eight in the final minute of the first half, but Irving – who scored 24 points in the first half — scored five points in the last 22 seconds to pull Dallas within three. He finished the scoring by converting a three-point play on a basket and a free throw with 0.7 seconds left.
