Mavericks oust Timberwolves in 5 games, face Celtics in NBA Finals
Luka Doncic #77 of the Dallas Mavericks is interviewed by Ernie Johnson Jr. after being named the MVP after Game Five of the NBA Western Conference Finals against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center on May 30, 2024 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Stephen Maturen/Getty Images/AFP
MINNEAPOLIS —The Dallas Mavericks beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 124-103 on Thursday night to breeze through the NBA Western Conference finals in five games.
Luka Doncic had a 20-point first quarter on his way to 36 points for his high this postseason.
“He let his teammates know that it’s time and they’ve got to take it up a notch,” coach Jason Kidd said. “He sent the invites out, and they all came.”
Kyrie Irving also scored 36 points for the Mavericks, who built a 29-point halftime lead on 61% shooting to deflate the once-energized crowd before most fans got up for their first snack break. The Mavs went up by as much as 36 in the third quarter, all the while keeping the Timberwolves offense all out of whack.
“I just had that utmost confidence when I was going to sleep last night and went to shootaround this morning,” Irving said, “just feeling like we were going to play one of our best games.”
READ: NBA: Doncic hit game-winning trey as Mavs take 2-0 lead
Anthony Edwards scored 28 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 points and 12 rebounds for the third-seeded Wolves, who met their match with the defense-smashing duo of Doncic and Irving after stifling Phoenix in a first-round sweep and then dethroning defending champion Denver in a seven-game series.
“We never clicked all together as a team in this series, not even one game,” Edwards said. “The last two series, we were all clicking at one time, making shots and stuff. It wasn’t clicking at one time here.”
Irving improved to 15-1 in his career in closeout games in the playoffs.
Doncic set a defiant tone by starting 4 for 4, hitting rainbows from 28 and 31 feet as he turned to talk trash to the courtside fans with each swish, often with a sly smile. He drained a 32-footer later in a first quarter as the Mavs closed on a 17-1 spurt, a run they pushed to 28-5 over a nine-minute stretch.
“That gets me going,” Doncic said. “Everybody knows that by now.”
He drained a 32-footer later in a first quarter as the Mavs closed on a 17-1 spurt, a run they pushed to 28-5 over a nine-minute stretch.
“I thought I set a good-enough screen, and I turned around and he’s shooting from half court,” center Daniel Gafford said.
READ: Closers Doncic, Irving have Mavericks on verge of NBA Finals
It was Doncic’s second 20-point quarter in his postseason career, following a 21-point fourth quarter in the Western Conference finals loss to Golden State in 2022.
"I knew it was going to be a long night for whoever was in front of him."
Daniel Gafford on Luka's 20-point 1st quarter in Game 5 💪#NBAConferenceFinals presented by Google Pixel pic.twitter.com/gTY1fLUkHO
— NBA (@NBA) May 31, 2024
Doncic, who shot 14 for 22 and grabbed 10 rebounds, and his savvy sidekick Irving, who has a championship ring from 2016 with Cleveland, were the superior stars in this series as this Wolves team found its first taste of a sustained postseason run to be a bitter — but perhaps ultimately beneficial — one.
“You can’t skip any steps. The West is going to be a monster next year as it continues to be every year. There was a lot of things we did well this year,” Wolvers coach Chris Finch said. “I’m super proud of our guys. Just building another layer of foundation to try to get where we want to go.”
Though he familiarly and persistently waved his arms at the officials almost every time a whistle didn’t go his way, the 25-year-old Doncic played with an unshakeable confidence and unflappable joy from start to finish. As he was taunted by the fans with a “Flopper!” chant when he shot free throws in the third quarter, Doncic smiled and mockingly mouthed the words along with them.
Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) celebrates his score as Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, left, looks on during the first half of Game 5 of the Western Conference finals in the NBA basketball playoffs, Thursday, May 30, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Edwards, though he hit the 25-point mark for the 15th time in 27 career playoff games, had trouble finding his rhythm amid all the double-teams. The Wolves, for all their progress this season, were reminded they don’t yet have a championship offense despite his dynamic skills and clutch mentality.
They had several wince-inducing possessions in the decisive first half, with the coaches struggling to find a group that could play in sync together.
READ: NBA: Kinder, gentler Luka Doncic has Mavericks on verge of series win
As the final seconds of the second quarter ticked away, Edwards drove to the lane and kicked the ball to the corner to Kyle Anderson, who swung it back to Towns on the wing and failed to find a look he liked. He passed back to Anderson, who tried to move closer and had the shot clock expire on him.
The Mavs got 7-foot-1 rookie Dereck Lively II back from the sprained neck that kept him out of the previous game, restoring the complete rim protection duo with Daniel Gafford that helped them disrupt Rudy Gobert in the post and just about everyone else who tried to attack the basket.
Gafford had 11 points and nine rebounds, and Lively added nine points and eight rebounds.
P.J. Washington, who had 12 points, flexed his arms in celebration of yet another stifling defensive sequence by the Mavs.
“They won the series. They earned the series. They deserve the series. Congrats to them and their entire staff. They were led by two world-class players that played at a world-class level,” Finch said.
