Luka Doncic on Friday searched to find space as the clock ticked down, using a screen to draw Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert out to the top of the key and a crossover dribble to set up his step-back three-pointer.
With a swish and a shout, Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks are headed home with a 2-0 lead over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA Western Conference Finals.
Doncic hit the winner with three seconds left and posted his fifth triple-double of the playoffs to lead the Mavericks to a 109-108 victory over the Timberwolves.
Photo: AFP
“I was just trying to get to my spot and step back. I’m confident in that shot,” Doncic said.
Doncic had 32 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds for his eighth triple-double in 42 career post-season games for the Mavericks, who erased an 18-point deficit that stood late in the second quarter and were still down 16 midway through the third.
“As you’ve seen with Luka, he loves that stage. He doesn’t run from it,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “I thought he was great the whole game, keeping guys together, his energy.”
Naz Reid went seven for nine from three-point range for 23 points, but his last try at the buzzer rimmed in and out to send the Wolves to Dallas for Game 3 today in a big hole after another off night by stars Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns.
“First to four. Nothing’s won,” Doncic said. “You’ve just got to think about next game — not in the future, just this game.”
Kyrie Irving had 13 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, including a corner three-pointer with 1 minute, 5 seconds left that pulled the Mavericks within two. Then the Wolves sandwiched turnovers around a short miss by Doncic. Edwards threw the ball out of bounds off a drive with 13 seconds left, setting up Doncic’s winner.
He took the inbounds pass and dribbled to set up a screen by Dereck Lively II that triggered a switch by the Wolves, with NBA All-Defensive second team pick Jaden McDaniels dropping with Lively’s roll and Gobert staying out on the top of the key.
“I can’t move fast, but I can move faster than him,” said Doncic, who flexed his arms and yelled at Gobert, who fouled him hard at one point in the first half to draw a stare from the five-time All-NBA pick.
The lead for either side was three points or less from 10:50 remaining to 1:29 until Edwards — who had 21 points, but is shooting 11 for 33 in the series — sank two free throws for a 108-103 edge. That came right after Irving missed both foul shots that had the crowd howling for the promotion that awards fans a free Chick-fil-A sandwich.
Mike Conley scored 18 points and Gobert had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Wolves, who needed Reid — the NBA Sixth Man of the Year — more than ever. His top-of-the-key swish at the end of the third quarter gave the Wolves an 86-79 cushion just after the Mavericks closed the gap hard with a 21-7 spurt — mostly while Conley rested — over a 6:36 stretch.
“We’re just beating ourselves a lot of the times, making simple, mental errors,” said Towns, who had 15 points on four-for-16 shooting. “Our defense that’s held us together all year, sometimes it just falters in the wrong times. If you mix that in with the offense that we’re just not producing right now, it’s tough.”
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to