MINNEAPOLIS – The greatness of the Mavericks’ superstar duo returned in gigantic fashion in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.
After some struggles in the previous round against Oklahoma City, Kyrie Irving and Luka Dončić were unstoppable on Wednesday night — at both ends of the floor.
First Irving kept the Mavericks afloat early, then Dončić took charge in the fourth quarter to propel the Mavs to a 108-105 victory in Game 1 of the best-of-seven conference finals at the Target Center.
The Mavericks stole the home-court advantage behind Luka’s 33 points and 30 more from Irving, who made it a point to set a tone early.
“We had to work really hard to get this one,” Dončić said. “It’s big time. We know how tough it is to play in this place, especially against a team that has so many weapons, so it’s big-time to take this one. But it’s only one. We got three more to go.”
Dončić scored 15 points in the fourth quarter and the Mavericks scored eight consecutive points after they were trailing 102-98 with 3:25 to go.
It’s the first time in the Jason Kidd coaching era that the Mavericks have won Game 1 of any series. Yet they have come back to win four of the previous five series under Kidd.
“We’ve had quite a few tests in these last two series and we’ve proven to ourselves how to respond to losses,” Irving said. “This is the first series where we’ve been able to start off with a win. Now we got to learn how to deal with this, too. We can’t be satisfied. The job is not even near finished.”
As Dereck Lively II said: “I definitely say we had our foot on the gas (in earlier rounds) and now we’re trying to go through the floor. We’re going to get their best shot two days from now.”
Game 2 is Friday at Target Center. Wednesday’s was slippery to get ahold of for either team and boiled down to a fourth quarter when the Mavericks executed better than the Wolves.
It started with Luka’s step-back three-pointer with 3:14 left. After Anthony Edwards, who had a relatively pedestrian game by his standards with 19 points, missed a triple, Irving found P.J. Washington in the corner for a wide-open three that put the Mavericks up 104-102.
Luka’s midrange step-back shot with 49 seconds left put the Mavericks up by four.
On the possession before that, it was Dončić that jumped in front of a Mike Conley lob pass that could have led to a crowd-inciting dunk. But Luka blew up the lob attempt.
“It was a heck of a play from Luka, just understanding the tendencies and (using) his basketball IQ to know what was going to take place there.,” Kidd said. “Heck of a defensive play. We always talk about his offense, but this time of year, his defense is definitely improving.
“Special players make special plays and it’s not always on the offensive end.”
The Mavericks also got a good break when Karl-Anthony Towns was whistled for an offensive basket interference on his follow-up dunk that could have tied the game before Luka’s interception of the lob.
This was in a fourth quarter that earlier saw the Mavs run off 13 consecutive points, only to see Minnesota respond with a 13-1 run.
After the Wolves got within 106-104 on Naz Reid’s tip shot, Irving hit two free throws with 7 seconds left. The Wolves could not convert an intentional miss after making one free throw and the Mavericks were up 1-0.
It truly was a ham-and-egg night for Luka and Kyrie. The Mavericks clearly had some sluggish moments in the first half, but it was Irving who dumped in 24 points in the first 24 minutes.
“That was big time,” said Dončić. “We probably would have been down 20 if he hadn’t scored that many points. I appreciate him keeping us in the game.”
Then Dončić took over. Together they simply were too strong for the Wolves, who got 24 points from Jaden McDaniels.
The Mavericks weren’t shooting it great from the perimeter as the Wolves stuck with their shooters. But that opened up the paint, where the Mavericks outscored the bigger Wolves by a massive 62-38 margin.
“When you have that many points in the paint against the No. 1 team defensively, we’ll take it if that’s what you’re going to give us,” Kidd said.
They also won the rebounding game 48-40.
But the keys to the game were Irving early and Dončić late.
“Wow,” said Lively, who had nine points and 11 rebounds. “He (Irving) is an amazing player, what he can do with the ball, and what he can do without the ball, too, he’s a great leader and he’s a person we can all lean on.
“Thirty and 33, just give them the ball and get out of the way. Just being able to have two offensive masterpieces like that is amazing.”
And when Luka closed the door, Kidd he hoped a move earlier in the game helped him.
“Maybe the rest early, understanding we’re trying to keep those two under 40 minutes and being able to finish the marathon,” Kidd said. “It’s a series. A lot of times we focus on just one game. But one thing leads to another. We had the luxury to rest him right there before halftime, knowing that the second half was going to be a fight. Hopefully, that helped him to go in the fourth and knock down the shots that he has all season.”
It certainly didn’t hurt as the Mavericks’ superstar duo returned with a vengeance.
X: @ESefko
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