You may have heard that, when he heard that Charles Barkley hadn’t been to Minnesota in years, Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards told the TNT analyst to “Bring ya ass.”
That quickly became a battle cry for the Wolves in their first trip to the Western Conference finals in 20 years.
Maybe the Mavericks should update it. Something like: Bring ya brooms.
Yep, the sweep alert is on after the Mavericks took Minnesota’s best punch and refused to hit the floor, surviving for a 116-107 victory at American Airlines Center to take a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
And history tells us, it’s an insurmountable 3-0 lead.
No NBA team has ever overcome that deficit to win a series, going 154-0.
In other words, the Mavericks have every reason to believe they will be in the franchise’s third NBA Finals come June. Not that they were in any mood to talk about it afterward.
“It means absolutely nothing right now,” said Kyrie Irving of the 154-0 stat after scoring 14 of his points in the fourth quarter. “Going into Game 4, it’s still 0-0. And that’s the type of mentality we have in that locker room.”
Luka Dončić and Irving were spectacular, doing everything superstars are supposed to do in combining for 66 points (33 apiece). And they were particularly sharp in the fourth quarter, when they scored or assisted on 26 of the Mavericks’ points as they outscored the Wolves 29-20.
“Unbelievable,” Dončić said of Irving’s fourth quarter. “That’s why they call him, some people, Mr. Fourth Quarter, right? He scored 33. How many did he score in the fourth? It felt like 20. It’s amazing. He’s born for the clutch situations. So we just give the ball to him. It’s just a blessing to have him on our team.”
Irving was quick to return the bouquet.
“Luka’s funny, man,” he said. “I feel like we’re both born for this. I felt like in that fourth quarter, we had a good run going. We got stops in the fourth quarter and we decided to push and get some easy ones.
“And down the stretch, that’s where we make our money, man. Since All-Star break, we’ve been up there with some of the top teams in the league finishing clutch games. We have a great clutch record. I think we have that poise now and teams have to guard the depth we have.”
That’s what happens when the stars get a ton of support from P.J. Washington and Derrick Jones Jr.
The lone blotch on the night was when rookie center Dereck Lively II left the game for good in the second quarter after getting kneed in the back of the head. He was diagnosed with a sprained neck and will be re-evaluated before Game 4 Tuesday, when the Mavericks can clinch their third trip to the NBA Finals in franchise history with a win.
And there is no doubt they are rolling. The Mavericks now have won five consecutive playoff games, their best string of success in the postseason since they won seven in a row during the 2011 run to the NBA championship.
This was the third game in a row in this series when the Mavericks were down in the fourth quarter, but gutted out a victory, putting them on the brink of a sweep.
“We got to appreciate where we are, but at the same time, don’t take it for granted,” Irving said. “Don’t take the other team for granted, they’re going to study all our habits and see if we lay down a little and get comfortable. I don’t want to get comfortable at all.”
His leadership is not going to allow that. And the performance that the Mavericks had in the fourth quarter, when they hit 11-of-15 shots and limited the Wolves to 1-of-8 three-point shooting, was nothing short of sensational.
“They’re superstars. That’s what they do,” Washington said of Luka and Kyrie. “We expect them to be special each and every night. And they show up. They make the game easier for all of us. They bring so much attention, it opens the floor for everybody to hit open shots and get easy lobs.”
As evidenced by the 16 points Washington had.
“The trust we have with our quarterbacks, Luka and Kai being able to make the right decisions,” coach Jason Kidd said of the Mavericks’ fourth-quarter mastery in this postseason. “Those guys did a great job.
“And we talked (in the huddle) about winning the fourth. The game was tied. Everybody stayed together. We got some great stops. We got some turnovers there in the fourth, but nobody went sideways. Everybody just stayed positive.”
Dončić was listed as questionable as late as 90 minutes before tipoff, with coach Jason Kidd saying the superstar point guard would go through his pregame routine and see how he feels.
About 30 minutes later, he was cleared to play. There was no report about how that pregame workout went, but the game itself, and particularly the fourth quarter, was a thing of beauty.
The final frame started with neither team going up by more than three points for the longest time. When Washington canned a corner three-pointer with 3:28 to go (on an assist from Irving), the Mavericks were up 107-104. As the shot nestled into the net, Washington gave Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes a slap of the hand as he ran by Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce, who were seated courtside.
After a Wolves’ free throw, Luka converted a high-degree-of-difficulty fadeaway that put the Mavericks up 109-105. Luka and Kyrie would finish out the scoring and the Wolves could not solve the Mavericks’ defense late.
And so, the Mavericks will go for the kill Tuesday night at AAC.
At this point, go against them at your own risk.
X: @ESefko
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