Mavs 116, Wolves 107: Stars Shine for Dallas in the Fourth, Take 3-0 Lead

The Minnesota Timberwolves not only failed to defeat the Dallas Mavericks once in their first two home games in the Western Conference Finals, but blew leads down the stretch of a pair of games they absolutely should have won. That has to sting as they bring the show on the road, especially considering teams with home-court advantage that lose the first two games of the Conference Finals are 0-10 in series since 1970-71.

But the Wolves still have reasons to be confident. Minnesota have led for 77% of the minutes in the first two games, know firsthand that winning the first two games on the road doesn’t mean a damn thing if you don’t handle business at home. When you consider that, plus the fact that Minnesota is 5-1 on the road this postseason, things don’t seem that dire.

Maybe it’s because of that and maybe it’s because of how much belief this group has in each other, but there was a complete sense of calm and confidence in the pregame locker room. Wolves Head Coach Chris Finch projected the same during his media availability before the game, which he walked to and from without crutches, something he hadn’t done before Sunday.

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There was plenty of energy in the building as things got underway, which was only amplified by Mavericks role players P.J. Washington Jr. and Derrick Jones Jr. — who shot a combined 2/17 from beyond the arc in Minnesota — knocking down their first looks from the right corner. Luka Dončić saw a far higher wall than he saw in Games 1 and 2, but he beat it with perfect pocket passes that eventually led to each 3. Partly as a result of the coverage, the Mavericks’ first six shots came from downtown. Beyond the high wall, Minnesota adjusted their individual matchups, as Mike Conley took Kyrie Irving, while Anthony Edwards checked Jones Jr. Irving scored just two points on 0/2 shooting with Cnley as his matchup.

Conley started off strong for the Wolves, scoring the team’s first five points, the most he’s scored in an opening quarter all playoffs. Edwards was pretty passive in the first couple minutes, but got up three shots and took a trip to the free throw line in the subsequent few minutes, scoring five to match Conley. Unfortunately for Minnesota, Karl-Anthony Towns still looked rushed in what he was doing, something Finch was hoping his four-time All-Star could improve upon in Game 3.

After the Dončić found Dereck Lively II for a pair of lob dunks — to go with a monster dunk over Gobert — the Wolves finally settled into the game with seven very much needed points from Jaden McDaniels, who followed his 24-point Game 1 performance with just two in Game 2.

But the Minnesota offense felt unsustainable because they were having to work significantly harder for their scores, especially inside. Dallas moved the defense much easier, got into the paint with ease, and consistently generated open 3-point looks. Part of that was due to Edwards and Towns struggling to get in any sort of rhythm; the pair scored just nine points (all by Ant) in the first quarter, but weren’t creating repeatably attackable advantages for themselves in a real way.

The Timberwolves trailed 33-28 after one, which could’ve been worse if not for a Nickeil Alexander-Walker 3-pointer at the buzzer, ending an 0/11 streak over the last three games. The Mavericks shot 5/10 from 3 in the opening quarter in an otherwise very evenly played game statistically.

Towns got on the board with a free throw to open the second quarter scoring. Mavs Head Coach Jason Kidd challenged the call against Lively, the rookie’s second foul, but it was unsuccessful. That could loom large, as Dallas has been very successful with their challenges thus far in this series.

Minnesota’s luck continued to turn up, as the officials made a pair of questionable foul calls against Jaden Hardy (his second and third), which forced the young scorer to the bench. Dallas then began sending more doubles at Edwards, but he did a good job of drawing them out away from the basket, creating cutting lanes for his teammates.

Even still, there were too many possessions during which Edwards was not making quick enough decisions or moving the ball with the requisite velocity and accuracy to meaningfully move the defense. The Wolves setting screens at bad times and bringing extra attention to him in the middle of the floor when he didn’t want it made things tougher, too.

The vibe in the arena took a major shift after Lively took an inadvertent knee to the back of the head from Towns, who was elevating for a rebound.

Lively needed assistance getting off the floor after remaining down on the ground with his teammates huddled around him for several minutes. He did not return, as he was subsequently ruled out with a neck sprain. That eventually called into action Dwight Powell, who has been out of the rotation all playoffs.

The Wolves immediately went on a 5-0 run to cut the lead down to five, but the Mavs responded with a 5-0 spurt of their own to balloon the lead back to 10. Towns’ inability to give Minnesota anything of value on either end of the floor completely hamstrung the Wolves’ comeback efforts. He sat on one point on 0/5 shooting through 20 minutes of play. But he did come down with a pair of tough contested defensive rebounds and a nice assist to Gobert, which helped lead into his first score at the 1:44 mark. He scored a second consecutive layup going left before assisting a McDaniels bucket, helping keep the Mavericks within reach.

“Stopped shooting and just started going really aggressive downhill, became a slasher. Put me in spots where I was getting the ball in the mid-post, Dallas action, and I was utilizing that one-two step to the basket for my advantage,” Towns said postgame.

“I’ve got to laugh. I’m putting up to 1500 shots a day. Shot so well all playoffs, confidence extremely high. To be having these unfortunate bounces and these looks that are just not going in, it’s tough. It’s tough, for sure. I’m good confidence-wise. Just gotta keep shooting.”

Minnesota would’ve chipped away more if not for a pair of 3s from the Mavs’ stars. But the Wolves caught a nice break just before the horn, when Gobert drew the third foul on Daniel Gafford with 0.3 seconds left. He went 1/2, but that could make a Mavericks defense without Lively even more susceptible. Dallas allowed seven offensive rebounds for six second chance points and Minnesota outscored them in the paint 26-20 in the first half.

The Mavericks led 60-52 at the break behind 15 points from Dončić on 5/12 shooting and 14 from Irving, who made five of his 10 looks. Jones Jr. joined them in double figures with 11. Edwards paced the Wolves with 12 points on 4/11 shooting (4/6 on free throws) to go along with team-highs of six rebounds and five assists. McDaniels also scored 12, while Gobert added seven points (two put-backs). 3-point shooting was the big separator all half, as Dallas made 10/21 (47.6%) compared to Minnesota’s 4/16 (25.0%) mark. Jones Jr. shot 3/3 from deep after going 0/5 in Minnesota and scoring just 12 points in Games 1 and 2 combined.

“We came out and we were going to be aggressive with those two guys. They threw the ball around and made a lot of great plays and then all the other guys started throwing in threes,” Finch said after the game. “It’s been tough for us to try to navigate that. We’ve been picking our poison here a little bit. And, at times in the game, we do different things.”

Coming out of the break, the Timberwolves played offense in front of their own bench, which could only be a positive as they worked through their scoring efficiency struggles. Minnesota scored on four of their first five possessions, headlined by a pair of big slot 3s from Conley that came as a result of great ball movement on the perimeter. But the Mavericks hunted Conley on the other end, isolating him on Irving and Dončić, which led to the beloved veteran picking up his fourth foul at the 8:36 mark of the third.

Dallas then got into the bonus for the final eight minutes and change on the next trip, but Minnesota for the most part maintained their discipline in the subsequent minutes. After starting 0/3 in the quarter playing downhill, Edwards kept his foot on the gas pedal for a pair of scores at the rim and a beautiful kick to McDaniels in the slot for a huge 3.

But the two-time All-Star didn’t stop there, throwing down a massive dunk over Gafford before adding a pair of tough middies on the right wing to tie the game at 77, capping off an 11-1 Wolves run. Edwards did most of his work in the slots, without ball screens, so he could attack better in isolation away from loaded up help defenders.

Naz Reid gave the Wolves their first lead of the game out of a TV timeout at 79-77 off a crazy jelly layup over the out-stretched defense. But the fun ended there for the meantime.

Dallas scored in isolation against Gobert twice, with a Dončić trip to the free throw line mixed in. The third attack came from Hardy, who drew Gobert’s fourth foul on a step-back mid-range pump fake with 2:31 left to go in the third. Dončić then added a fourth foul to McDaniels’ tab on the next possession, complicating the defensive matters even further.

But the Wolves held in there down the stretch of the quarter, thanks to a pair of big time scores from their unicorn big men. Towns went left for yet another score, this time an and-1, before Kyle Anderson found a wide open Reid atop the key for a 3. KAT put the cherry on top with a very tough off-glass finish fading to his right off the block.

Minnesota tied it up after three, 87 apiece, thanks to a combined 19 points in the quarter from Edwards (10) and Towns (9). The Wolves scored 35 in the third behind 4/6 shooting from deep, equalling their total from the first half.

Edwards sat to begin the fourth, but his teammates kept the boat afloat. Conley started the quarter with 3, before Slow-Mo got into the mid-range to score on one of his patented floaters. But Irving woke up after a somewhat quiet second and third quarter stretch by scoring five straight to tie things up at 94.

The two sides traded baskets for the next couple minutes, but the Wolves’ ball movement exceeded that of the Mavs, so Minnesota was able to create better looks. The Timberwolves shot 6/8 to start the fourth, but made just one of their 3-point looks. Dallas, meanwhile, opened 5/8 behind some capital T Tough shots from their Dončić and Irving inside the arc.

Minnesota midway through the fourth started playing a little too much east-to-west offensively and held the ball more than they had all half, putting pressure on players to make some bail out shots. Slow-Mo was huge, going 4/4 in the first seven minutes, buying Gobert time to stay on the bench in foul trouble. He initiated the offense for a large stretch and also guarded Dončić on the other end.

“He’s just a smart offensive player, and probably should’ve played him more, to be honest with you,” Finch said postgame of the veteran point forward. “He just understands what’s going on in the game, how to unlock some good offense for his teammates and then, by doing so, he’s crafty enough to be able to benefit himself.”

The Timberwolves on the other end applied great pressure once the Mavericks got over half-court, which junked up the offense. But their stars kept finding a way to win off the dribble and put the ball in the hole. Irving and Dončić were a combined 6/8 to start the fourth, accounting for 15 of the Mavs’ first 17 points.

That continued down the stretch for Dallas, as Luka and Kyrie continued to isolate and make tough shot after tough shot, outlasting a Wolves offense that couldn’t manufacture ways to put their stars in scoring positions.

Minnesota did not make a field goal from the 5:05 mark on until Edwards scored a meaningless layup with 15 seconds left.

The shots taken/turnovers:

• Reid missed 3
• Anderson missed mid-range 2 at shot clock buzzer
• Conley missed 3
• Ant missed layup
• Ant turnover (off an OREB)
• KAT missed 3
• Conley missed layup
• KAT missed 3

Edwards took one shot in crunch time. One.

He and Towns combined for four points on 2/7 shooting in the final frame, while Luka and Kyrie combined to score 21 points on 8/10 shooting. Dončić and Irving took 10 of the Mavs’ 15 field goals and four of their five free throws in the fourth. Ant and KAT took just seven of the 20 Wolves shots and neither of the two free throws.

Dončić and Irving each scored a game-high 33 to lead the Mavericks, while Washington and Jones Jr. added 27 between the two of them to give Dallas a lift offensively.

“[Dončić and Irving] are obviously really good shotmakers. And then you get Derrick Jones and P.J. Washington and a lot of those other guys playing as well as they did, they’re tough to beat. We just gotta figure out a way to slow both of them down, and Luka and Kyrie, as well as those other guys,” Anderson said postgame. “They can’t all play well like that. We’re gonna have to pick and choose (who has advantageous matchups). That’s what we’re gonna do in Game 4.”

Edwards scored a team-high 26 for the Wolves to go along with nine rebounds and nine assists. Conley scored 16 on 4/7 from deep, while McDaniels (15), Reid (14) and Slow-Mo (10) were there in support. Towns scored 14 points on 5/18 shooting (0/8 from beyond the arc) and grabbed 11 rebounds.

“He struggled, of course. It was hard to watch at times. But he had enough buckets here and there. Defensively, in the second half, I was really pleased with the way he played, rebounding pretty well,” Finch said postgame. “But yeah, he’s struggling. There’s no doubt in that right now.”

Dallas shot a blistering 14/28 from 3, while Minnesota converted just nine of their 30 fires from downtown. Free throw shooting also separated the two teams, as the Mavericks made 26/31 (83.9%) compared to the Timberwolves’ lackluster 12/17 (70.6%) mark.

“We’ve got to keep fighting. We’ve got to win Game 4 here. That’s all that matters,” Finch said, explaining his message to the team. “Win Game 4, push the series back to Minneapolis, and that’s all we can do.”

This story will be updated throughout the night after coach and player media availabilities.

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Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images

What Can the Wolves Take Into Game 4?

The Timberwolves’ offense in the third quarter finally broke through against the Mavericks defense, which to that point had done an excellent job all series of loading up in the right places, taking away driving lanes, swarming post-ups, and rotating nicely out to shooters behind the play.

Three things that the Wolves could control made a major impact in opening up the floor for Edwards and Towns to score.

First, Minnesota did a great job of playing with pace and making quick decisions, whether it was passing, cutting or looking to score.

“I thought we were just playing with good pace, the ball wasn’t sticky. We played with that .5 mentality, where you get off of it, hit the pocket, and then that guy makes a play,” Conley said postgame.

“When we play that way, we’re a tough team to gauge where we’ll be and where to load up on, who to load up on. So if we can move the ball like that and continue to have that continuity on offense, I think it will allow our offense to have a little bit more effectiveness, especially late game when we’re pressing for buckets.”

Slow-Mo put on a wonderful display of that .5 mentality late in the third and early in the fourth when he initiated the offense, which also more effectively activated Conley as an off-ball shooter. Anderson’s playmaking and scoring in the mid-range was essential for the Wolves spreading out the Mavericks defense and creating open looks for his teammates. Expect to see more Slow-Mo, especially initiating the offense in Game 4, and potentially less Gobert down the stretch if Dallas is going to hunt him as lethally as they did down the stretch of Game 3.

Second, the Wolves’ coaching staff had Edwards play more off the ball, allowing him to receive the basketball in the slots off of quick passes before the defense could shift and load up on him. It’s easier for his teammates to set screens from the slots and create a runway to get into the paint against a rotating defense.

Here, Edwards comes out of the corner off a pin-down screen, receives a screen from Reid, then hits a boomerang pass with NAW in the corner to get Powell to bite. Powell then tries to retreat to Reid knowing Naz can knock down that shot, and opens up a driving lane for Edwards.

(Editor’s Note: If you are reading this on Apple News, please click here so you can view embedded videos important to the analysis, and enjoy the best overall reading experience.)

Then, once Ant is able to more effectively get into the paint and collapse the defense, he’s able to set up his teammates more efficiently with passes like this:

Edwards also played quicker off of stops, beating the Mavericks’ defense down the floor for an easy bucket:

But the final — and pretty seismic factor — is that Lively did not play in the second half. Although that would be a larger part of the conversation if the Wolves had found a way to win Game 3, it still is important to note heading into Game 4. Kidd said postgame that the Mavs would see how their rookie center feels Monday before making any kind of decision ahead of Game 4.

Simply put, Gafford does not strike fear in the Timberwolves’ drivers the same way Lively does. Edwards put that on full display with the dunk of the playoffs as part of the Wolves’ 11-1 third quarter run.

While Gafford starts, he does not close, largely because of the defensive presence Lively brings. The Duke product is a +22 in his 63 minutes, second-highest in the series behind Irving’s +23 mark in 121 minutes. If you convert his plus-minus mark to a per-100 minutes statistic, he would be first by a mile at +34.9, easily clearing Josh Green’s +22.0 mark.

This Mavericks interior gets much thinner depth-wise and much smaller height-wise without the 7-foot-1, 230-pound anchor at the bottom of their defense. Gafford and Powell are both 6-foot-10 in the 230-240-pound range, but do not protect the rim anywhere near as well as Lively does.

Minnesota collected 10 offensive rebounds for 12 second chance points in this game, and should’ve had at least four or five more given how many good looks they created on those extra possessions. While Dallas beat them 11-4 in fast break points, the Mavs haven’t really dominated them in a game all series in a way that should make the Wolves shy away from crashing the offensive glass at an even higher rate for however long Lively is out. The Wolves

If the Timberwolves can translate to Game 4 the attack mindset they maintained in the third quarter, they will be in good shape offensively as long as they can improve upon their 30% 3-point and 70.6% free throw shooting marks. Getting Edwards and Conley off the ball will be key as well, perhaps with Anderson initiating things as a means of creating more 3-point looks either to knock down or that force the defense to close-out hard and open up more runways for takeoff to the rim.

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Rotation

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Up Next

The Timberwolves and Mavericks will run it back at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Tuesday night for Game 4 as Minnesota looks to avoid a sweep and force a Game 5 in Minneapolis on Thursday.

Fans can watch the 7:30 PM CT tip on TNT.

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Highlights