3 observations after the Mavericks defeat the Timberwolves, 109-108

Luka Doncic’s step-back with three seconds left gave the Dallas Mavericks the victory after they had rallied from 18 points behind to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 109-108. With 32 points, 10 boards, and 13 assists, Doncic was the Mavericks’ leading scorer. The Wolves were defeated by Naz Reid, who scored 23 goals while coming off the bench. With a 2-0 series lead, the Mavericks are riding high into Dallas.

In the first five minutes of the game, Minnesota dominated Dallas and forced the Mavericks into the bonus due to fouls. With a new lease of life, Anthony Edwards pounced on the paint with conviction. In spite of Dallas’ foul issues, Doncic helped kept the club in the game by connecting on two early threes. Karl-Anthony Towns fouled out twice in a single possession, allowing Naz Reid to enter the game and make two threes. The game remained within striking distance thanks to Derrick Lively and Jaden Hardy’s contributions off the bench. Despite overcoming some terrible offensive mistakes and misses, the Mavericks fell behind the Timberwolves, 32–26.

Dallas fell down 12 early as their defense and rebounding broke apart on consecutive plays. Towns targeted Washington early with post-ups, scoring through good defense. Reid’s fourth three of the game put the Wolves up 15 and prompted a Dallas timeout. Dallas coach Jason Kidd continues to look for backup guard minutes with Dante Exum and Tim Hardaway Jr. receiving opportunities and both unable to contribute. Dallas rallied some to end the second quarter, going on an 8-2 run in the last three minutes to narrow the margin slightly. Dallas trailed 60-48 at the half.

Mental blunders hampered Dallas to open the second half, as Minnesota pushed the advantage back to 16. Look away passes from Doncic to Lively helped trim the advantage to 11 before a Wolves timeout. Doncic lowered the margin to single digits with a fantastic step back over McDaniels then scored a short jumper to take it down to six. The Wolves fought back to 10 before a Josh Green three sliced the margin down to five. Hardy came off the bench to add a three and a nice dish to bring the margin down to two points. A late Reid three boosted the Minnesota lead back to seven and Dallas trailed 86-79 entering the final quarter of play.

Kyrie Irving sank his first three of the series to get the scoring started for Dallas in the fourth. A second Kyrie three after a Washington post score gave the Mavericks their first lead since the first quarter. The sides swapped baskets with Reid continuing to dominate his sixth and seventh made threes of the game to maintain Minnesota ahead with 6:36 left. The exchanging of haymakers continued, with Gafford scoring on back-to-back plays while blocking his sixth shot of the game in between. After a Jones Jr. mistake, the Wolves established a three-point lead, but Dallas remained within one on consecutive occasions. Dallas regained the lead again after a timeout at the three-minute mark, but the Wolves scored quickly and retrieved the rebound after two Maverick misses. Irving missed two free throws and Edwards hit both, only to turn around and convert on a corner three the following possession. With Dallas trailing 108-106, the Mavericks had two opportunities to grab the lead or tie it. Doncic missed the first opportunity, only for Edwards to give the ball over. With 12 seconds remaining, Doncic received the ball on the inbounds pass, and got Gobert on a switch where he nailed his sole make of the fourth quarter from three. Naz Reid missed a game-winner and Dallas goes up 2-0 on the Wolves, winning 109-108.

The finest backcourt in the NBA

I’ve written and erased roughly 300 words about Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. I don’t exactly know what to say about these two magicians. When the fourth quarter began, I thought Kyrie Irving would come through. He answered the call with four made threes and great defense against Anthony Edwards. Luka Doncic missed his other two shot attempts in the fourth quarter, but when he grabbed the inbounds with 12 seconds remaining, I felt he would do something extraordinary. He did exactly that.

These two are great on their own. Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving together are great. They make you feel like Dallas is invincible.

Young bench players rising up

Throughout these playoffs, Jason Kidd has turned to his bench to offer respite for Irving and Doncic. At various moments, different players have done just enough to help Dallas climb over the hump. On the road, in the second half of a very critical game, both Jaden Hardy and Josh Green stepped up in a major manner to help clinch the win.

Green had a fairly awful game one, making the sort of blunders that could’ve lost Dallas the game. He hit a tremendous three late in the game, attacked the boards, and made the proper pass to lead the Mavericks in plus-minus as a +15.

Jaden Hardy is an adventure. In the first quarter he nailed an unbelievable three and used it as the green light to go up four more shots before the quarter finished. In the second half he had an opportunity again to make a difference, when he made the perfect reads on passes and scored another key three with Dallas pushing to get back in the game. Hardy is an intriguing player and is making the most of his minutes speaks to his confidence. Dallas needs it if they’re going to progress to the NBA Finals.

The center of it all

In a series which contains a front court with a Defensive member of the Year, an All-Star, and an All-Defensive team member, it’s the front court of the Dallas Mavericks that’s making the difference in this series.

Despite fighting the Wolves to what is virtually a statistical tie, Dereck Lively and Daniel Gafford are coming up big through two games in these Western Conference Finals. It’s tough to highlight one single play, but it’s at the stage now where Gafford has recovered his “I’m going to make every shot” confidence from the regular season and Lively is looking like the steal of the 2023 NBA Draft.