DALLAS — Leaving Minneapolis with two wins to open the Western Conference Finals, the Dallas Mavericks overcame an injury to Derek Lively II to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 116-107 in Game 3 to take a 3-0 series lead. Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving were on a roll throughout the game and into the final minutes. Doncic combined for 33 points, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals. Irving added 33 points and four assists. They are one win away from reaching the NBA Finals.
Early on, the Timberwolves frequently blitzed to try to get the ball from Doncic, hurting the rest of the Mavericks’ offense. Derrick Jones Jr. and PJ Washington both made three-pointers early in the game. Lively then benefited from this often in the paint, closing out the period with three consecutive dunks. Doncic made some difficult shots early on when he had the time, including multiple step-back three-pointers and a turnaround jump shot from short range. The Mavericks led by as many as eight points in the first period, but ended the game 33-28.
With Irving now the only superstar on the court, the Timberwolves began blitzing him. After a negative whistle blew for Dallas to halt their momentum, Irving took advantage of a double team to get the ball to Jones in the weak corner for a three-pointer, then evaded Towns and attacked Conley for a floater to give Dallas its first double-digit lead of the night.
In a frightening turn of events, Lively fell to the floor and Towns hit him in the back of the head with a knee. He lay on the floor for a while before needing to be helped to the locker room. With Maxi Kleber already out with a dislocated shoulder, Dallas had only two traditional centers left in Gafford and Dwight Powell with 8:35 left until halftime.
The Timberwolves went on a 5-0 run to cut Dallas’ lead to five points, but the Mavericks responded with a 7-0 run that included Doncic drawing a shooting foul and making both free throws. After Dallas took its largest lead of the first half, the teams traded points and the Mavericks held a double-digit lead thanks to timely shooting from Irving, including a floater and a three-pointer. Doncic thrilled the home crowd with five straight points, starting with a short-range jump shot and then a catch-and-shoot from the perimeter.
Gafford committed his third personal foul with 0.3 seconds left before halftime. Given Lively’s injury, Gafford getting into foul trouble could be problematic. The team provided an injury update on Lively before the game resumed, stating that he was questionable to return after being diagnosed with a neck sprain. Lively was subsequently ruled out for the remainder of the game.
Edwards and Towns were again tough offensively at halftime, combining for 19 points on 6-of-21 shooting and 1-of-8 3-pointers. Minnesota’s perimeter shooting regressed from levels at the start of the series, going just 4-of-16 after two quarters.
Minnesota did manage to cut Dallas’ lead, getting within five after Gobert finished in the paint. The Mavericks responded frequently and timely to Timberwolves shots. Doncic made his second catch-and-shoot 3-pointer of the night, then Irving connected on two for an and-one floater.
After a foul was recorded at 8:17 in the third quarter, Minnesota picked up its fifth foul and the Mavericks reached the bonus point. Powell made two free throws and Dallas held a double-digit lead. But the Timberwolves placed Naz Reid next to Towns instead of Gobert, giving Edwards more room to attack the paint. After Reid scored, Minnesota pulled within five midway through the period.
Edwards dunked over Gafford and then hit a tough step-back jumper from mid-range to tie the game at 77-77. Reed showed his apparent lack of presence in the paint with Lively out when he beat Powell to the rim for a layup. Irving answered with a short-range jumper to tie the game again.
After the steal, Doncic attacked Edwards in transition, drew fouls on two passes, then made two shots. Hardy switched to draw Gobert, faked a shot and drew a foul, and Gobert made his fourth of the game before falling into foul trouble. Hardy made both free throws. McDaniels was fouled trying to guard Doncic in space, and the Slovenian superstar was forced to take a free throw before making one of his two shots. At this point, McDaniels was also in foul trouble after making his fourth.
Towns finished with an and-one to put Minnesota within one, but Doncic scored after Edwards missed a short-range jumper. But the problems that plagued Dallas in Game 2 reoccurred when Reid tied the game with a 3-pointer from the trailer, then Towns converted a floater to take the lead. Hardy tied the game with an acrobatic finish off the rebound to make it 87-87 going into the fourth quarter.
Irving set the tone for the fourth quarter with a finish through contact as Doncic watched from the bench. Conley broke free and hit a 3-pointer to give Minnesota the lead. Towns stopped Gafford, followed by Kyle Anderson for a floater. Irving stepped up again with a transition pull-up 3-pointer before Doncic approached the scorer’s table and got back into the game. Anderson answered with another floater. Irving beat a defender with a behind-the-back dribble and made a jump shot.
Doncic returned to the game with the Mavericks tied with about nine minutes remaining. After isolating Towns, he hit a step-back three-pointer in the corner to tie the game, but Dallas couldn’t stop him, and Conley hit a floater on the other end. Reed hit a powerful one-handed slam from a pin-down, then Irving drove to draw McDaniels’ fifth foul, but made two free throws for just one point. Dallas couldn’t contain Anderson on another drive, giving up the lead before Washington made a putback to tie the game again.
Doncic, who had pulled Gobert with a chair for a steal earlier in the game, tried to do it again on Reid but was fouled. Both teams lost possession, but Doncic made a one-footed turnaround on Reid in the paint and Edwards quickly finished it off to tie the game at 102-102.
With the shot clock nearly expired, Edwards made a desperation reverse pass to Anderson, who took a shot to put Minnesota ahead. Irving dribbled past Edwards and finished with a scoop to make it 104-104. The Timberwolves took a timeout with 4:34 left. Washington returned from the break with a 3-pointer from the corner to put Dallas up by three.
Minnesota had Anderson and Gobert on the court for crucial moments before the four-time Defensive Player of the Year returned to the game with 3:21 to play.
Doncic made a nice drop-off pass to Gafford that looked to put Dallas up by four, but a traveling penalty negated the two points. After a strong defensive possession, Doncic turned around on one foot against contact and took a shot while falling to the ground. Dallas came close to making another defensive stop, but had to stop a jump ball involving Doncic and Edwards.
With the Mavericks up by four, Doncic drove to get the ball, but Towns missed an open 3-pointer, and Dallas extended its lead to six with a jump shot from Irving on a snatch-back move along the baseline. Gafford hit Conley at the rim, setting up Doncic to find Gafford for the and-one alley-oop that sealed the win.
Moving forward, the series will resume with Game 4 on Tuesday at the American Airlines Center.
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