By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Dallas Mavericks drew first blood on the Minnesota Timberwolves during their Western Conference Finals Game 1 clash, 108-105, in the ongoing NBA Playoffs on May 23, 2024.
After escaping the youthful Oklahoma City Thunder during the semifinals, the rolling Mavericks squad showed they still had enough gas left in the tank and silenced the Minnesota crowd following the tight win.
Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic were once again spectacular for Dallas and shouldered more than half of the Mavericks’ total points.
Out of the 108 points scored by Dallas, Doncic contributed 33 big points while Irving finished with 30 markers, combining for a 24/49 shooting from the field.
It was Irving who steered the Mavericks in the first half as his waxing hot offense helped Dallas maintain within striking distance. With his aggressive play style going up against the Minnesota perimeter defense, the former NBA champion went crazy from the field and attacked the Timberwolves’ interior at will.
After the Irving show in the first half, Doncic picked up where he left off and spearheaded the Dallas avalanche in the final two-quarters of the game.
As the game went on a nip-and-tuck affair in the fourth, Doncic began to take over and drilled several clutch shots that secured the win for the Mavericks.
With 53 seconds left in the game and Dallas only clinging to a two-point lead, Doncic buried the cold-blooded perimeter dagger over the outstretched defense of Minnesota’s premier defender Jaden McDaniels.
After the Doncic shot, Minnesota failed to counter back and could only watch the Mavericks take away their home-court advantage in the Western Conference finals.
Dallas only shot 6/25 from the rainbow country but their 16/17 shooting from the charity stripe and 48 total rebounds helped them edge the Timberwolves.
Also making valuable contribution for Dallas was PJ Washington who dropped 13 points, seven rebounds, and two assists while Daniel Gafford chipped in a near double-double outing of nine points, 10 boards, and a block.
On the other hand, Anthony Edwards nearly capped off the game with a triple-double, finishing with 19 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists, but had to buck a slow shooting performance as he only converted six of his 16 total attempts from the field.
