DONCIC'S 36 POINTS SPUR MAVERICKS TO NBA FINALS WITH 124-103 TOPPING OF TIMBERWOLVES

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 MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Luka Doncic was in his element, hitting shots from everywhere on the court, hushing the crowd and flashing those sly smiles as the Dallas Mavericks delivered a knockout performance.

Now one of the global sport's young superstars gets his first trip to the NBA Finals.

Doncic had a 20-point first quarter on his way to 36 points for his high this postseason, and the Mavericks beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 124-103 on Thursday night to breeze through the Western Conference finals in five games.

“He let his teammates know that it’s time and they’ve got to take it up a notch,” coach Jason Kidd said. “He sent the invites out, and they all came.”

Kyrie Irving also scored 36 points for the Mavericks, who built a 29-point halftime lead on 61% shooting to deflate the once-energized crowd before most fans got up for their first snack break. The Mavs went up by 36 in the third quarter, consistently keeping the Timberwolves offense all out of whack.

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“I just had that utmost confidence when I was going to sleep last night and went to shootaround this morning," Irving said, “just feeling like we were going to play one of our best games.”

The Mavs, the No. 5 seed in the West, have a full week to rest before the NBA Finals begin in Boston on June 6 for the franchise's first appearance since winning the championship in 2011 when Kidd was playing for them. The Celtics will have had 10 days between games after sweeping Indiana in the Eastern Conference finals.

Anthony Edwards scored 28 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 points and 12 rebounds for the third-seeded Wolves, who met their match with the defense-smashing duo of Doncic and Irving after stifling Phoenix in a first-round sweep and then dethroning defending champion Denver in a seven-game series.

“We never clicked all together as a team in this series, not even one game,” Edwards said. “The last two series, we were all clicking at one time, making shots and stuff. It wasn’t clicking at one time here.”

Irving improved to 15-1 in his career in closeout games in the playoffs.

Doncic set a defiant tone by starting 4 for 4, hitting rainbows from 28 and 31 feet as he turned to talk trash to the courtside fans with each swish.

“That gets me going," Doncic said. "Everybody knows that by now.”

He drained a 32-footer later in a first quarter as the Mavs closed on a 17-1 spurt, a run they pushed to 28-5 over a nine-minute stretch.

“I thought I set a good-enough screen, and I turned around and he's shooting from half court,” center Daniel Gafford said.

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This was Doncic’s second 20-point quarter in his postseason career, following a 21-point fourth quarter in the Western Conference finals loss to Golden State in 2022. He was voted the MVP of the series.

Doncic, who shot 14 for 22 and grabbed 10 rebounds, and his savvy sidekick Irving, who has a championship ring from 2016 with Cleveland, were the superior stars in the series as this Wolves team found its first taste of a sustained postseason run to be a bitter — but perhaps ultimately beneficial — one.

“You can’t skip any steps. The West is going to be a monster next year as it continues to be every year. There was a lot of things we did well this year,” Wolvers coach Chris Finch said. “I’m super proud of our guys. Just building another layer of foundation to try to get where we want to go.”

Though he familiarly and persistently waved his arms at the officials almost every time a whistle didn’t go his way, the 25-year-old Doncic played with an unshakeable confidence and unflappable joy from start to finish. As he was taunted by the fans with a “Flopper!” chant when he shot free throws in the third quarter, Doncic smiled and mockingly mouthed the words along with them.

The Mavs got 7-foot-1 rookie Dereck Lively II back from the sprained neck that kept him out of the previous game, restoring the complete rim protection duo with Gafford that helped them disrupt Rudy Gobert in the post and just about everyone else who tried to attack the basket. Gafford had 11 points and nine rebounds, and Lively added nine points and eight rebounds.

Edwards, though he hit the 25-point mark for the 15th time in 27 career playoff games, had trouble finding his rhythm amid all the double-teams. The Wolves, for all their progress this season, were reminded they don’t yet have a championship offense despite his dynamic skills and clutch mentality.

They had several wince-inducing possessions in the decisive first half, with the coaches struggling to find a group that could play in sync together.

As the final seconds of the second quarter ticked away, Edwards drove to the lane and kicked the ball to the corner to Kyle Anderson, who swung it back to Towns on the wing and failed to find a look he liked. He passed back to Anderson, who tried to move closer and had the shot clock expire on him.

P.J. Washington, who had 12 points, flexed his arms in celebration of yet another stifling defensive sequence by the Mavs.

“They won the series. They earned the series. They deserve the series. Congrats to them and their entire staff. They were led by two world-class players that played at a world-class level,” Finch said.

- DAVE CAMPBELL

LUKA DONCIC'S GAME WINNER IN IN MAVS-WOLVES SHOCKS SOCIAL MEDIA

 

The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 109-108 in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals on a Luka Doncic game winner.

Doncic had 32 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds, his fourth career postseason triple-double, the fifth most in NBA postseason history, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Kyrie Irving added 20 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds, scoring 13 points in the final frame. Dereck Lively II had 14 points and nine rebounds, going 6-for-6 from the field.

The Mavericks trailed by as much as 18 points in the second quarter, tied for the third-largest comeback win this postseason. Dallas outscored Minnesota 61-48 in the second half.

The Mavericks trailed by two with 12.1 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter before Doncic hit a step-back 3-pointer over Rudy Gobert with 3.1 seconds left. It was Doncic's second career go-ahead 3-point basket in the final five seconds of a playoff game. He is the fifth player with multiple go-ahead 3-point field goals in the final five seconds of a playoff game since 1997-98 (play-by-play era).

Social media reacted accordingly to Doncic's 3-pointer, including Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

- ESPN Staff

SHAI GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER SCORES 34, THUNDER OVERCOME MAVS DEFENSE TO EVEN SERIES 2-2

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 DALLAS (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was making his normal share of shots through three quarters for Oklahoma City. Most of his teammates weren't, until it mattered most.

Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points and the Thunder overcame a Mavericks franchise playoff-record 13 blocks, rallying for a 100-96 victory Monday night to even their Western Conference semifinal series at 2-2.

Chet Holmgren and Lu Dort hit clutch 3-pointers late, and Jalen Williams drove for a dunk and a 94-91 lead with 1:29 remaining as Dallas players and coaches screamed for a double-dribble call.

Crew chief Zack Zarba said in a pool report that video confirmed officials were correct not calling the double-dribble, saying Williams never had control of the ball before grabbing it with two hands and starting his dribble.

The teams split a pair on each other's home court. Game 5 is Wednesday night in Oklahoma City.

“We just stuck to it,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We just plugged away, took it possession by possession. And eventually the game turned for us.”

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The Mavericks' last chance to tie came with 10.1 seconds left when, trailing by two, Luka Doncic had two free throws. But the Dallas superstar missed the first, part of a dismal 12-for-23 effort by the Mavs from the line. Oklahoma City was 23 for 24.

“We’ve just got to work on our free throws,” Doncic said. “We shot 52%. That’s unacceptable.”

Backed by one of their best defensive efforts of the season, the Mavs led by 14 early in the second half. But their offense disappeared from there, and the Thunder slowly came back.

Oklahoma City went in front for the first time since early in the game — and for good — on Holmgren’s 3 for an 89-86 lead with 3:24 remaining.

P.J. Washington Jr. led Dallas in scoring again with 21 points, while Doncic had 18 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. Kyrie Irving had his second single-digit scoring game of the series with nine points.

Dort's clutch 3 came on a 3-of-10 shooting night from deep as he finished with 17 points. Holmgren had 18 points and nine rebounds.

Dereck Lively II and Derrick Jones Jr. had four blocks apiece for Dallas, each getting one in the final seconds of the first half to continue the defensive tone that had already been set.

That defensive struggle turned downright ugly in the third quarter, with the Thunder outscoring Dallas 22-15 to cut their deficit to four — the closest they had been since the middle of the first quarter. Oklahoma City shot 33% in the third to 25% for the Mavs.

Dallas wasn't much better in the fourth, shooting 42% and going just 1 of 5 from long range while the Thunder finally started seeing shots go in after shooting 34% through three quarters.

Gilgeous-Alexander, who along with Holmgren did most of the shot-making while their teammates struggled, got the Thunder even on a jumper with four minutes to go.

“There’s nothing comfortable about playoff games,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “I thought our ability just to endure the early punches, and just not able to get back in the game for a long time, our ability to endure that was big time. In the fourth, the offense turned for us.”

Washington, making his first postseason appearance as a trade-deadline acquisition that was a defense-first move, had his third consecutive game with at least 20 points and added 12 rebounds.

Doncic had his fifth career playoff triple-double but again struggled with his shooting as he deals with a sprained right knee and a sore left ankle.

The five-time All-Star was 6 of 20 overall and 2 of 9 from long range, while the eight-time All-Star Irving hasn't put an offensive stamp on any of the first four games.

A pair that averaged just shy of 60 points per game in the regular season is at 37 in the series. Irving isn't even in the second-leading scorer. That's Washington.

“I think there’s a focus on us,” Doncic said. “When we both drive it, they collapse the paint, almost five guys. So I think that’s been difficult for us. We’ve just got to find open teammates.”

With Oklahoma City leading by three after two free throws from Holmgren in the final seconds, Gilgeous-Alexander fouled Washington before the Mavs could attempt a potential tying 3.

Washington missed the first free throw, dropping Dallas to 11 of 22, and was trying to miss the second — but it went in. Gilgeous-Alexander then put the Mavs away with two more free throws.

“This is probably the most meaningful game I've played in my career,” the Oklahoma City star said.

- SCHUYLER DIXON