DALLAS Mavericks leaned on a huge first quarter breakaway to oust Minnesota Timberwolves, 124-103, in Game 5 of NBA Western Conference Finals on Thursday night (Friday in the Philippines) at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Luka Doncic led the way with 36 points, with 20 coming in the opening quarter, to go with 10 rebounds, five assists, and two steals as the Mavericks wrapped up the best-of-seven series, 4-1.
âWe believe (Doncic) is one of the greatest. I think that’s up to the media to write. You guys will place him in a place of great and GOAT debates,â said Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd.
Kyrie Irving added 36 points, including four three-point conversions, while P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford contributed 12 and 11 points, respectively, for the Mavericks.
The Mavericks set the tone early behind consecutive hits from Doncic for a 16-10 lead, but the Timberwolves leaned on inside hits by Rudy Gobert to tie the score at 18-all.
Dallas, however, responded with a massive 22-1 scoring run, highlighted by back-to-back three-pointers from Doncic, to establish a 40-19 lead after a three-pointer from Maxi Kleber.
It was all Mavericks since then as Irving, Washington, Gafford, and Dereck Lively II made their offensive contributions as the lead reached as high as 40 points.
âI just had that utmost confidence when I was going to sleep last night and went to shootaround this morning,” Irving said. âJust feeling that we were going to play one of our best games.â
Karl-Anthony Towns finished with a double-double of 28 points and 12 rebounds, while Anthony Edwards also ended with 28 markers for the Timberwolves.
The Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Mavericks and Boston Celtics will commence on June 7 (Philippine time) at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts./PN
BOX SCORE:
DALLAS 124 — Doncic 36, Irving 36, Washington 12, Gafford 11, Lively 9, Hardy 7, Jones 5, Kleber 3, Green 2, Powell 2, Lawson 1, Exum 0.
MINNESOTA 103 — Towns 28, Edwards 28, Gobert 9, McDaniels 8, Conley 7, Anderson 7, Garza 6, Reid 5, Moore 5, Alexander-Walker 0, McLaughlin 0, Miller 0, Minott 0.
Quarterscores: 35-19, 69-40, 97-73, 124-108.
