Mavs outduel T'Wolves in Game 1
Luka Doncic scored 33 points, including 15 in the fourth quarter, and the Dallas Mavericks outlasted the Minnesota Timberwolves for a 108-105 win in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Wednesday night in Minneapolis. Kyrie Irving added 30 points on 12-for-23 shooting for Dallas. Daniel Gafford [10 points, nine rebounds] and Dereck Lively II [nine 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 eight assists, and Karl-Anthony Towns scored 16. The Mavericks outscored Minnesota 26-22 in the fourth quarter to help secure the three-point win. 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 he finished it with a pair of free throws. Minnesota responded with a 10-1 run to grab a 99-98 edge with 4:39 left. Towns hit a 3-pointer from 28 feet to put the Timberwolves on top. After a timeout, Edwards made a 3-pointer to increase Minnesota's lead to 102-98 with 3:37 to play. The Mavericks answered with back-to-back 3-pointers by Doncic and P.J. 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. 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 scored five points in the last 22 seconds to pull Dallas within three. He finished the scoring by converting a three-point play on a basket and a free throw with 0.7 seconds left. (Reuters)