DALLAS Mavericks leaned on a huge fourth quarter run to defeat Minnesota Timberwolves, 108-105, in Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference Finals on Wednesday night (Thursday in Manila) at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Down 84-89 early in the fourth quarter, the Mavericks went on an 13-0 scoring run with Luka Doncic unloading nine points and Derrick Jones Jr. and Dereck Lively II adding a basket each for a 97-89 lead.
The Timberwolves countered with three-pointers from Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns and inside conversions from Rudy Gobert and Towns to reclaim a 102-98 advantage.
The Mavericks then surged ahead on back-to-back triples by Doncic and PJ Washington Jr.to take a 104-102 before Doncic converted another short jumper to make it 106-102 with under a minute left.
The Timberwolves made its last push at 104-106 on a putback by Naz Reid before Kyrie Irving sealed the Game 1 victory for the Mavericks with two free throws.
Doncic led the way with 33 points, with 15 coming in the fourth quarter, to go with eight assists, six rebounds, three steals, and a block as the Mavericks took a 1-0 lead in best-of-seven series.
Irving chipped in 30 points, including 24 in the first half, to go with five rebounds, and four assists, while Washington and Gafford contributed 13 and 10 markers, respectively, for the Mavericks.
âWe probably would have been down by 20 points if he had not score that many points (in the first half),â said Doncic as he credited Irving for his strong first half performance.
Jalen McDaniels led the Timberwolves with 24 points, including six three-point conversions, while Anthony Edwards had a near triple-double of 19 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists.
Towns delivered 16 points, Reid came off-the-bench to contribute 15 markers, while Gobert and Kyle Anderson wound up with 12 and 11 points, respectively, for the Timberwolves./PN
BOX SCORE:
DALLAS 108 — Doncic 33, Irving 30, Washington 13, Gafford 10, Lively 9, Jones 8, Green 3, Hardy 2, Hardaway 0, Exum 0.
MINNESOTA 105 — McDaniels 24, Edwards 19, Towns 16, Reid 15, Gobert 12, Anderson 11, Conley 6, Alexander-Walker 2.
Quarterscores: 27-33, 59-62, 82-83, 108-105.
