BULAN, Sorsogon— The Dallas Mavericks took a commanding 3-0 series lead in the Western Conference Finals. They defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves, 116-107, in Game 3 at the American Airlines Center on Monday, May 27 (PHT).
The victory put the Mavericks one win away from their first NBA Finals appearance since 2011.
Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving were once again the driving forces for Dallas.
Doncic recorded his third 30-point game of the series with 33 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and five steals. Irving scored 14 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter. He finished with 33 points on 12-of-20 shooting, along with three rebounds and four assists.
The duo became the first backcourt to score at least 30 points each in the same game three times in a single playoff series in the past 50 years.
“There’s a lot of trust when you talk about Ky and Luka. Those two guys are winners. They want to win. They want to help the team. My job is to inform them of what I see and try to put those guys in position to be successful,” said Mavericks coach Jason Kidd.
For Timberwolves, Anthony Edwards had 26 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists. While Karl-Anthony Towns added 14 points and 11 rebounds.
The duo, however, combined for 38.1% shooting from the field and went 0-for-10 from three-point range.
Minnesota coach Chris Finch criticized the team’s performance down the stretch.
“Terrible offense down the stretch. Bad shots. Turnovers. No composure,” he said.
Trailing 104-102 with over five minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Mavericks closed the game on a 12-1 run. They secured a 113-105 lead with 34.8 seconds remaining.
The Timberwolves’ offense faltered in the final minutes. They missed eight of their last nine shots, including four three-point attempts.
A concern for the Mavericks is the health of rookie center Dereck Lively II. He left the game with 8:35 remaining in the second quarter. This was after an inadvertent knee to the head from Towns. The team cited Lively had a strained neck.
No team in NBA history has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in the playoffs.
The Mavericks can complete the sweep in Game 4 on Wednesday in Dallas at 8:00 AM (PHT).