SUMMARY
This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.
To hear Luka Doncic describe it, the Dallas Mavericks’ victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals resembled a relay race.
Kyrie Irving burst out of the starting gate with 24 first-half points to keep Dallas in contention.
Doncic took the baton at halftime and helped the Mavericks earn a 108-105 win with 15 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter in Minneapolis on Wednesday night, May 22 (Thursday, May 23, Manila time).
“Amazing,” Doncic said. “[Kyrie] got us going. Without him, we’d probably be down 20 at halftime, so he got us going. So I had to help him in the second half a little bit.”
Irving finished with 30 points on 12-for-23 shooting for Dallas.
Daniel Gafford (10 points, 9 rebounds) and Dereck Lively II (9 points, 11 rebounds) narrowly missed double-doubles.
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 8 assists, and Karl-Anthony Towns scored 16.
The Mavericks, who shot 49.7% (43-for-87) from the field for the game, outscored Minnesota, 26-22, in the fourth quarter to help secure the three-point win.
Edwards said he and his teammates struggled to maintain their energy level for the full 48 minutes. He acknowledged that the team’s comeback win over the Denver Nuggets in Game 7 in the conference semifinals might have sapped some of their energy.
“Yeah, for sure,” Edwards said. “You all can see it. We were a step behind everybody, especially myself. Kyrie got a transition layup… and he just outran me. I was just exhausted. So yeah, for sure. But we’ll be all right.”
Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving took turns getting BUCKETS to take Game 1 of the West Finals in Minnesota!
— NBA (@NBA) May 23, 2024
Doncic: 33 PTS, 8 AST, 6 REB
Irving: 30 PTS, 5 REB, 4 AST
Game 2: Friday, 8:30pm/et on TNT 🍿 pic.twitter.com/8IkJXJNqzU
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 finished it with a pair of free throws.
Minnesota, which shot just 42.7% (38-for-89) from the field, responded with a 10-1 run to grab a 99-98 edge with 4:39 left. Towns hit a three-pointer from 28 feet to put the Timberwolves on top.
After a timeout, Edwards made a triple to increase Minnesota’s lead to 102-98 with 3:37 to play.
The Mavericks answered with back-to-back treys by Doncic and PJ 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.
"That's a no fear mentality, and that's why we love Ant."
— NBA (@NBA) May 23, 2024
Kyrie Irving speaks on Anthony Edwards mentioning him ahead of their West Finals matchup 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/uE2O7jhKt5
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 fired 5 points in the last 22 seconds to pull Dallas within three.
He finished the first-half scoring by converting a three-point play on a basket and a free throw with 0.7 seconds left.
The teams will reconvene on Friday night, May 24, for Game 2.
“That’s only one,” Doncic said. “We’ve got three more to go.”
"I just said to myself we got to win this game."
— NBA (@NBA) May 23, 2024
Luka Doncic shares what his mindset was going into the 4Q of Game 1 of the West Finals 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/c9sTMhm8jY
– Rappler.com
Add a comment
How does this make you feel?
There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.