MINNEAPOLIS – The ghost of Lu Dort may yet haunt Luka Dončić.
The Mavericks conquered Oklahoma City’s stocky, sticky defender in the second round of the playoffs, but it was by no means a breeze. It took a physical toll on Dončić.
And it did something else: provided a blueprint for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference semifinals against the Mavericks that starts at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
“Yeah, for sure,” T-Wolves’ guard Anthony Edwards said after their shootaround Wednesday morning. “I thought he (Dort) should have been on one of the (all-) defensive teams, for sure.”
So what in particular did the Wolves learn from Dort’s play about how to make life tough on Luka?
“Just how he kept playing, kept pursuing through every screen,” Edwards said. “They run a lot of pick and rolls and he didn’t stop pursuing every time. He was fighting through every screen, contesting every shot. Just played hard the whole time.”
That goes a long way, even with the heightened stakes deep in the playoffs when everybody’s aggressiveness gets an uptick. Of course, it helps to be built like a tank, which Dort is.
Karl-Anthony Towns, who has spent time guarding Phoenix’s Kevin Durant and Denver’s Nikola Jokic already in these playoffs, knows he’ll have times when he’s responsible for Dončić.
He said pushing the envelope physically is important. But it’s not just with Luka.
“You got to be physical with everybody,” Towns said. “These guys are tremendous offensive players and they’re very skilled. So we got to be able to not only push the physicality, but we got to execute at a high level and be smart in our aggression, as well.”
Edwards agreed that while making life hard on Dončić and Irving is important, it’s not the only thing that can go haywire against the Mavericks, as the Thunder and Los Angeles Clippers found out in the first two rounds.
“The attention to detail to the other guys is more important,” Edwards said. “Luka and Kyrie are going to be Luka and Kyrie regardless of how many coverages you get into and how many times you double them. They’re going to shoot their shots. They’re going to make them. They’re going to miss them. You got to live with it.
“But it’s the other guys. The attention to detail is super-important because they love to catch and shoot or catch and drive one way. They’re not good using the other hand. Some of them don’t like pressure. They depend on Luka and Kyrie to create everything. So attention to detail is important with the other three guys.”
Edwards and Jaden McDaniels are the Wolves’ equivalent to Derrick Jones Jr. and P.J. Washington for the Mavericks. They guard the opponent’s best offensive players every night.
Both expect to see a lot of Irving and Dončić.
“It’s going to be a fun series, for sure,” Towns said. “They got some amazing, amazing players. They’re team is really good and they’ve stepped up since the All-Star break and especially after the trade deadline.”
And the Wolves are keenly aware that they won three of four regular-season games against the Mavericks, but all of them were before Washington and Daniel Gafford arrived in Dallas.
Said Edwards: “They’re good, man. They got two great offensive players. We got two great defensive players.
“So whatever we did in the past is in the past. If it didn’t work, it didn’t work. We’re trying to focus on whatever we do tonight and see if it works, which is going out and playing hard and guarding at the best of me and Jaden’s abilities.”
X: @ESefko
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