After snatching two games on the road to start the Western Conference Finals, the Dallas Mavericks knew the Minnesota Timberwolves would not go away quietly. However, with the Timberwolves showing signs of life entering the fourth quarter, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving seized control and led the Mavs to a 116-107 victory. Dallas now leads the series 3-0 and is now one win away from the NBA Finals.
Doncic faced a difficult assignment in replicating his Game 2 performance, in which he hit a game-winning 3-pointer while also racking up a triple-double. To secure another victory, Doncic will be content with 33 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and five steals while shooting 10-20 overall and 5-11 from deep.
“They try to double me, and they try to double Kai, and everybody touched the ball, and that just makes it better,” Doncic said in his postgame interview with TNT. “We need one more; nothing is done. We simply said, ‘One more.'”
Kyrie Irving got off to a strong start on Sunday, scoring 14 points in the first half alone, and finished with 33 points on 12-20 shooting, including 3-6 from deep. Irving, as usual, took over in the clutch, hitting difficult big shot after big shot to secure the victory. No. 11 has 14 points in the fourth quarter alone.
The Timberwolves are an excellent defensive club, but when the Mavericks have “the best offensive duo in the history of the NBA,” as TNT’s Stan Van Gundy characterized it, there is nothing you can do to prevent the inevitable. Doncic and Irving became the first starting backcourt to hit 30 points in three playoff games in 50 years.
In the second quarter of Game 3, Mavs rookie big man Dereck Lively II received an unintended knee to the back of the head from Minnesota Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns. Lively made a significant impact early in the game with his unrelenting intensity, but he did not return due to a neck sprain.
After promising to be considerably more aggressive in Game 3 than in the previous two, T’Wolves standout Anthony Edwards kept his word. Edwards attacked downhill early and frequently, taking advantage of Dallas’ injured big man issue. He finished with 26 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists, shooting 11-24 from the field.
The Mavericks will remain where they are as Game 4 begins on Tuesday night at American Airlines Center. Stay tuned to DallasBasketball.com and our Mavs Step Back Podcast for comprehensive daily Mavs coverage.
