Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving Push Dallas Mavericks to Game 1 Win Over Minnesota Timberwolves

After previously losing every Game 1 of their playoff run, the Dallas Mavericks overcame a passionate crowd at Target Center to achieve a 108-105 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

May 22, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) celebrates in the fourth quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves in game one of the western conference finals for the 2024 NBA playoffs at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports / Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

MINNEAPOLIS — After previously losing every Game 1 of their postseason run, the Dallas Mavericks overcame a passionate crowd at Target Center to achieve a 108-105 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Luka Doncic finished with 33 points, eight assists, and six rebounds, with important plays down the stretch, while Kyrie Irving was essential with a hot start, totaling 30 points, five rebounds, and four assists.

“It’s big time," Doncic said after winning Game 1. "We know how tough it is to play in this place, especially against a team like Timberwolves. They have so many weapons, so it was big time to get this win.”

May 22, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) celebrates in the fourth quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves in game one of the western conference finals for the 2024 NBA playoffs at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports / Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Dallas continued to prioritize protecting the paint and trying to prevent Minnesota's top players from comfortably getting to spots. Jaden McDaniels scored a team-high 24 points with six made 3-pointers, while a combined 26 points were provided from Naz Reid (15 points) and Kyle Anderson (11 points) off the bench. Anthony Edwards was held to 19 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists on 6-16 (37.5%) shooting from the floor and 5-12 (41.2%) shooting from deep. Karl-Anthony Towns was contained to 16 points on 6-20 (30.0%) shooting overall and 2-9 (22.2%) from the beyond the arc. Rudy Gobert totaled 12 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks.

"You feel like you have the athletes that can stay in front of him and pack the pain and not sort of give him those straight line drives to the basket. He's talented," Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said of Edwards. "Just got to sometimes hope he misses and it seemed like tonight he wasn't. He's able to shoot the three off the dribble. He's able to get to the rim. He's able to make plays for his teammates. He had some turnovers there that he normally doesn't have. We're just trying to send as many bodies as we can and make it tough.

"There's gonna be battles where he's gonna win some of them, and hopefully we can, you know, win some," Kidd explained. "And at the end of the day, you just try to make it tough on him, and you tip your hat if he makes a play or if he scores."

Irving clearly emphasized aggressive attack downhill early and often in this game. He had numerous short-range jumpers and contact finishes, including an and-one in the first quarter, bringing his scoring total to 13. The most he scored in the first quarter this postseason was four points in three games, more than tripling that volume. He was taking advantage of more traditional ball screen coverages as opposed to the frequent blitzes he was commanding last series.

“We just had to start off the game with an aggressiveness, and make sure we bring Rudy (Gobert) away from the basket as much as possible," Irving said. "We understand that’s the defensive player of the year, and they have first-team and second-team all-defensive guys.

"So, as much as we could attack them in transition before they set their defense, which I got a few opportunities to do. Got a few and-ones to go, so I was feeling good in the first quarter," Irving explained. "Trying to just settle into where we are. This is the Western Conference Finals. Lots of anxieties, some nerves. I’ve been here 3 before, so just a little bit more poise on my end and just being able to start the game with the confidence and that aggression.”

After Edwards hit a pull-up 3-pointer in transition against Green, the Timberwolves took a 21-12 advantage, establishing their largest lead of the period. Minnesota had a hot start from beyond the arc in the opening period, shooting 6-11 (54.5%), while Dallas shot 1-7 (14.3%). Irving quickly propelled the Mavericks back into the mix, using a 12-0 run to take a 23-21 edge. Minnesota had a strong close to the first period, outscoring Dallas 10-6 to retake the lead.

“That was big time,” Doncic said or Irving's hot start. “We probably would have been down 20 if he hadn’t scored that many points. I appreciate him keeping us in the game.”

Dallas sometimes made dynamic plays but struggled to turn them into a run. One example occurred in the second quarter when Doncic hit a pull-up 3-pointer using a double-drag screening action to free up space on the wing. However, a turnover on a no-look pass prevented Dallas from creating momentum in that stint. Without Irving on the floor, it was a challenge for the Mavericks to succeed consistently

After Irving pushed on the break once again before finding Doncic as a trailer for a finish after using a spin move against contact, Dallas cut the deficit to 43-41, entering a timeout with 5:30 left before halftime. The continued focus on pushing it on long misses and live ball change of possessions from Irving was clear and led to significant results.

With Irving continuing to attack the paint frequently, his final scoring play before the break was an and-one finish that pushed his scoring total to 24 — the most he's had in a first half in any game this season. His previous best was 22 points in two regular-season performances. He averaged only 6.0 points in the opening half of postseason performances entering this game. Doncic had 14 points and five assists, while Washington scored eight points.

“He was being (Kyrie Irving). Just picking his spots, using the different places on the floor to attack," Kidd said. "I thought he did a great job of helping everybody relax on the offensive end and then I thought defensively he was competing. We have to do a better job at guarding the three-point line, but I thought Kai was big for us in that first half and got us off to a good start. We were only down three and we just felt like we didn’t play well.”

The significant disparity in perimeter shooting and unforced errors leading to turnovers by the Mavericks proved to be significant swing factors in the Timberwolves' favor in the opening half. Regardless, Dallas still outscored Minnesota in the second quarter and trailed only 62-59 at the break, placing them in a favorable position after settling into the game.

“They have guys that can cover up a lot of space and do a lot of little things that don’t show up in the stat sheet. They contest a lot of shots, and their rotations were quick," Irving said. "We know we are going up against a high-powered offense and a high-powered defense, and that’s what leads to a lot of their run outs and a lot of turnovers, a lot of live-ball turnovers and getting an opportunity to score on us before we set up our defense.

"We’re a good defensive team as well, so seeing a lot of chess matches out there," Irving explained. "As long as the team who gets the most stops and gets the most offensive rebounds, gets a lot of 50/50 basketballs, they’ll win.”

Dallas found Gafford on consecutive plays for lobs in pick-and-roll early in the second half. The first sequence was created by Irving throwing a high-arching late lob with Gobert guarding the action. Doncic then used a Gortat screen to create another late lob for Gafford to finish after both ball screen defenders had committed to the drive. Minnesota began blitzing, resulting in a turnover that created a transition dunk for McDaniels.

The Mavericks took a 67-66 lead after Towns had to lean back on a tightly contested corner 3-point attempt, leading to a transition sequence for the Mavericks that was capped off by Jones throwing down an emphatic dunk. Towns fired back by flushing home a putback dunk. Dallas began hunting Mike Conley more as a smaller mismatch by posting him up with Washington to make a play, resulting in a shooting foul.

Dallas began hunting Mike Conley more as a smaller mismatch by posting him up with Washington to make a play, resulting in a shooting foul.

Perimeter shooting continued to favor Minnesota to this point. Doncic had a clean look from the wing after orchestrating Stack's pick-and-roll but missed, then Conley hit a 3-pointer on the other end. Doncic attacked downhill more, including drawing a foul after McDaniels hit his arm trying to stunt, then snaked his way to the paint for a jumper. Dallas acknowledged improvement must be made going forward with handling contesting 3-point attempts.

"We gotta be better at the three point line. This wasn't up to par again," Kidd said. "They made a lot of corner threes. We have to be better in our rotations, and then understanding with the threes that they did make there in that first half. No one panicked. There was just a lot of trust. And that's the great thing about our team is everyone trust each other. No matter how bad or how good we're playing as a group, we continue to keep pushing forward to find a way to win, and we did that this evening."

After Minnesota cooled off from the perimeter for a stretch before Green made a go-ahead corner 3-pointer to put the Mavericks ahead 80-79 late in the frame. However, a missed dunk from Green in transition after Doncic threw a bounce pass through a crowd eventually led to Reid making a shot from his own corner. While struggling to hit jumpers after a hot start, Doncic aggressively attacked the paint, finding Gafford for another lob after burying Gobert deep on a drive, tying it up. However, Green then forced a pass in transition that went out-of-bounds, leading to Reid drawing a foul.

The Timberwolves stayed hot from the perimeter to open the final period with a pair of makes, one from Reid and another from McDaniels. Minnesota initially outscored Dallas by a 6-2 margin to establish a five-point lead, entering a timeout with 10:51 in regulation.

“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.”

With Lively helping achieve defensive stops in the paint against Gobert and Doncic heating up significantly with his jumper, Dallas overtook a 91-89 lead early in the fourth period. It began with two jumpers by snaking into the gap out of pick-and-roll followed by a step-back 3-pointer.

"Yeah, it's very important," Doncic said of getting to his spots. "I just trying to get to my spot and be confident in those shots. Just got to do more."

Lively continued to make a significant impact in the paint on both ends. Despite having Reid and Towns on the court, Dallas forced Edwards to throw a spray-out pass out-of-bounds after taking out Gobert. He even flushed home a putback to extend the momentum, then sealed off Gobert with a Gortat screen for Doncic to draw a foul.

"Just our aggression, us just trying to be able to throw the first punch in the second half and come out with energy," Lively said. "We know what they're trying to do. We know their spots and we're trying to be able to just try to make them uncomfortable and get them out of their comfort."

Minnesota did not relent, with Edwards hitting a 3-pointer after an offensive rebound, then Towns using a bump in the post to create a tough fallaway jumper that he hit. Despite a few misses from deep, Towns threw a big-to-big lob to Gobert to make it a one-possession game, followed by a go-ahead 3-pointer by Towns. Minnesota was up 99-98 heading into a timeout with under five minutes still to play in the fourth quarter.

The back-and-forth between both teams in clutch time left a very thin margin for error for either side. After Irving missed a pull-up 3-pointer using a ball screen, Edwards responded by making one of his own. On the following trip down the floor, Doncic hit a step-back 3-pointer against Edwards' contest to make it a one-point game.

After being left wide open in early offense, Washington put Dallas back in front 104-102 with a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer from the corner. Towns nearly tied it back up after slamming a putback, but it was waved off due to basket interference. Lively was called for traveling when playing out of the short roll.

Dallas tightened defensively to close it out, with Doncic blowing up a lob to Gobert at the rim after initiating the action with a flare screen so Towns could pick on him as the low defender. Doncic answered the call again by using a short-range step-back to ice the game.

"I think it was a heck of a play for Luka, just understanding the tendencies, his basketball IQ, to know what was going to take place there," Kidd said of Doncic's block. "Heck of a defensive play. We always talk about his offense, but I think, this time of the year, his defense definitely has improved."

Doncic ultimately recorded 15 points, three rebounds, two steals, and one assist in the fourth quarter alone, proving instrumental in closing it out, but it went far beyond that. He knew it was time to take over for his team to pull out this road victory.

"Just said to myself, 'We got to win this game. I got to be way better,' because [for] three quarters, I didn't play good," Doncic said. "So I just came in the fourth, got to my spot and led the team to win."

With 17.5 seconds left to play, Minnesota inbounded the ball, and the possession ended with a tighly contested shot for Towns, but Reid followed it up with a putback. It was a two-point game before Irving was fouled and had a perfect trip to the free throw line to regain a four-point advantage. Conley drew a three-shot foul and made the first but missed the second and third, but with only 1.1 seconds to play, Minnesota was already disadvantaged too much to overcome.

Looking ahead, the series will continue on Friday with Game 2 being played at Target Center.

Stick with MavericksGameday for more coverage of the Dallas Mavericks throughout the NBA Playoffs.

Follow Grant Afseth on Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.