The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 117-116 on Saturday night to advance to the Western Conference Finals, but they had to wait until Sunday night to find out their opponent. The Mavericks defeated the reigning champion Denver Nuggets 98-90 in Game 7, and will face the Minnesota Timberwolves in the next round for a spot in the NBA Finals. The Timberwolves won Game 7 with the biggest halftime comeback in history.
It's a matchup between two young NBA superstars, Luka Doncic and genius Anthony Edwards. The Timberwolves have a stifling defense and had the best defensive rating in the NBA throughout the regular season, but the Mavericks had the best defensive rating in the final 20 games of the season.
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This is the second time in history that these two franchises have met, and the second time since Dirk Nowitzki established himself as a better No. 1 option than Kevin Garnett in 2002, when the Dallas Mavericks swept in three games. is. This is the second time the University of Minnesota has appeared in the Western Conference Finals as a franchise, matching Luka Doncic's career since 2003.
Minnesota won the season series 3-1, but all of those games took place before February, when Dallas acquired Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington in a trade. So it's unclear how Dallas will match up, but it's likely Daniel Gafford guarding Rudy Gobert, PJ Washington guarding Karl-Anthony Towns, and Derrick Jones Jr. guarding Anthony Edwards. Luka Doncic will guard Jaden McDaniels and Kyrie Irving will start alongside Mike Conley. Doncic will likely take McDaniels' assignment, so he'll have to deal with a pesky defender again.
Anthony Edwards had an impressive showing in these playoffs, averaging around 30 PPG. His rise alongside the steady hand of veteran Mike Conley has been impressive to watch. Derrick Jones Jr. will be giving his all for this matchup.
The Mavericks need big players to play in this series. They were able to overwhelm a small, glassy Oklahoma City Thunder team, but they faced a big Minnesota front that featured Gobert, Towns, and Sixth Man of the Year winner Naz Reid. That would be much more difficult to achieve. If Dallas can get Maxi Kleber back from a sprained shoulder this series, it could give them even more versatility and could be a big step forward just by matching Towns' skillset.
Game 1 will begin at 7:30 PM CST from Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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