The Mavericks were prepared for this game. I told someone before the game that they needed to treat this as an elimination game because Minnesota was going to play hard. Anthony Edwards said he was going to take more shots before the game, and Karl-Anthony Towns said all the right things after being benched in Game 2. And the Timberwolves are super talented.
Dallas started strong, leading by eight in the first quarter and 12 in the second. They controlled the pace on offense, stymied Minnesota on defense and had the advantage with Kyrie Irving facing Mike Conley.
Unfortunately, Dallas took a big hit from their starting lineup and lost some momentum, but here we are back to playing.
Read more: Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving lead Dallas Mavericks to 3-0 lead over Timberwolves
drive pic.twitter.com/5OUbdRDxa7
— Mavs Highlights (@MavsHighlights) May 27, 2024
This is where the game definitely changed. Derek Lively II has been a key player for Dallas, especially in the fourth quarter of this series. He was kneed in the back of the neck by Karl-Anthony Towns and then sat out the game in the second quarter with a neck sprain.
Watching on TV, you could see the energy had gone out of the stadium. There wasn’t much noise, and everyone was worried about the rookie from Duke. Dallas finished the first half well, but it became clear throughout the rest of the game that the Mavericks had wasted his time.
Instead of bringing in Lively for Daniel Gafford, the only options were to bring in a smaller player in P.J. Washington or veteran Dwight Powell, who was not good enough to play in this series. Powell was 0-for-2 and -1 in seven minutes in this game.
Lively’s future remains unclear, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if he finds himself on the bench for Game 4.
Read more: Dallas Mavericks’ key center injured, misses Game 3 of WCF vs. Timberwolves
PJ Washington…clutch.
The Mavs (leading 2-0) take a 3-point lead late on TNT 👀 pic.twitter.com/x76AcUVn6J
— NBA (@NBA) May 27, 2024
Despite the Mavericks having a sizable lead at the half, Minnesota took advantage of the lack of energy in the room due to Lively’s injury and stormed back. Anthony Edwards threw a monster dunk over Daniel Gafford, Mike Conley made some big shots and Minnesota committed a ton of fouls.
The Timberwolves got back in the game and took the lead several times in the third and fourth quarters, but the teams were tied at 104-104 with under four minutes left. In situations like these, it’s great to have guys like Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Luka saw Edwards with his back to the corner and passed to Irving before the screen was set, who quickly passed to P.J. Washington in the corner.
After scoring a combined 23 points in Washington’s first two games but making just 2 of 12 3-point attempts, he didn’t hesitate to take the pass, make the shot and slip it past Patrick Mahomes on his way back down the court to give Dallas the lead. The Mavericks never looked back.
Daniel Gafford’s performance was amazing
With Derek Lively ejected from the game, Gafford came on big time on both ends, and this block and dunk was the killer for Minnesota. pic.twitter.com/WCCxTe5ec0
— Kevin O’Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) May 27, 2024
Both of these plays needed to be mentioned, The RingerKevin O’Connor once again summed it up for me in one tweet: As has been the case this series, without Lively in the final rotation, Gafford needed to play well, Powell gives the team nothing and Washington just isn’t big enough to play long stretches at the 5.
With under a minute left, Gafford smashed a Conley shot off the backboard and then drew a foul on the other side with a powerful one-handed dunk that officially sealed the game, giving the Mavs a 116-107 victory and improving the Timberwolves to 2-6 in games in which an opponent has scored 100 or more points in the playoffs.
Dallas currently leads the series 3-0 and is one win away from reaching the NBA Finals.
The biggest change in this game from the first two games was Dallas’ 3-point shooting. In the first two games, Dallas shot just 32.1% from 3-point range, but in this game they were hot on the nets, going 14-of-28 for 50%, even missing some wide-open shots early in the game.
Dallas shot 55.9 percent from the field as a team outside of the three-point range. The offense was on a roll for most of the game, and they performed well against the NBA’s best defense during the regular season.
Luka Doncic finished with 33 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals on 50% field goal shooting. Kyrie Irving also added 33 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds. With two superstars putting up 66 points, it’s hard to lose, but this was a close game.
Washington had his best game of the series, scoring 16 points and grabbing eight rebounds and holding Karl-Anthony Towns to just 14 points on 5-of-18 field goal attempts. Towns has shot 4-of-32 from the 3-point line in his past five games, which has diminished his reputation as the best shooting big man of all time, especially when playing in front of Dirk Nowitzki.
Anthony Edwards said he was going to take more shots in this game, and that’s exactly what happened. He finished with his best showing of the series, scoring 26 points on 11-of-24 field goal attempts. He had a magical third quarter, including some incredible poster dunks and mid-range pull-ups, but it just wasn’t to be in the fourth quarter.
The Mavericks will close out the series at 7:30pm CST on Tuesday in Dallas, with a shot at a spot in the Finals.
Read more: Luka Doncic’s historic game-winning shot leads Dallas Mavericks to victory over Timberwolves
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