Luka Doncic Ripped The Wolves’ Hearts Out To Give The Mavs A Game 2 Win

Luka Doncic is a bad, bad man, and on Friday night, his playoff legend grew a little more. Doncic put Rudy Gobert on skates on the team’s final possession of the game to knock down a game-winning stepback three, and as a result, the Dallas Mavericks picked up a 109-108 win to give themselves a 2-0 series lead over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals.

After letting homecourt advantage slip away in Game 1, Minnesota looked like it was going cruise to a blowout win during the first half of Game 2. With Doncic looking a little banged up and Kyrie Irving struggling to impose himself in the first half, the Wolves were able to open up a lead of as many as 18 points in the second quarter to get the home crowd at the Target Center rocking.

While the lead got to 58-40, Dallas was able to get into a bit of a rhythm to close out the first half. It wasn’t much — only an 8-2 run to close the period which saw the Timberwolves make one shot from the field in the final 4:27 — but it was just enough to get the deficit down to something more manageable, and instead of wondering if Doncic and Irving would get to rest up during the fourth quarter, the Mavericks went into the locker room down by 12.

While the two teams traded blows early on in the third, the Mavs eventually came to life behind Doncic, who had 11 points and three assists in the frame.

With Doncic spearheading the effort — whether he was hitting shots on his own or generating looks for his teammates — Dallas was able to go on a 21-7 run that got the Wolves lead down to two points. Minnesota was able to get a jolt of energy late in the period when Reid hit a three in its waning moments, but after looking comfortable for much of the first half, their lead was only 86-82 heading into the fourth.

And then, just like that, Dallas took the lead. Behind a pair of triples by Irving — his first two of the series — the Mavs went on an 8-0 run in the first 97 seconds of the fourth to take their first lead since early on in the first quarter.

The two teams passed the lead back and forth, with Irving and Reid taking and making big shots throughout the first half of the period.

A quick, 6-2 burst by the Wolves helped them open up a narrow, three-point lead, but they couldn’t quite extend it, as the Mavericks always seemed to have an answer. And then, a funny thing happened: Irving missed a wide open three off of an offensive rebound on one possession, and after Edwards nailed two from the charity stripe right after that, the usually reliable guard went 0-for-2 from the free throw line.

It was a five-point cushion that felt gigantic with 89 seconds left, but Irving managed to get an open look on a corner three that he nailed.

On the next possession, the referees declared that Irving knocked the ball out of McDaniels’ hands and out of bounds. But review showed that Irving actually grabbed McDaniels’ arm — which cannot be called on replay — and forced McDaniels to drop the ball out of bounds, which gave possession back to Dallas with 47 seconds left.

Doncic missed a midrange jumper the next time down, and with Dallas opting not to foul, the stage was set for Edwards to drive a stake into their heart. Instead, he picked up his dribble at the free throw line and got enveloped by Dereck Lively, and in a moment of panic, he tried to pass to Reid, who wasn’t in the spot Edwards expected. The ball landed out of bounds as a result, and perhaps unsurprisingly, Doncic made them pay for switching Gobert onto him by drilling a stepback three to give Dallas a one-point lead, then took advantage of a chance to talk gobs of sh*t to the French big man.

With exactly three seconds left, Minnesota had time to get a good look. McDaniels got the ball into Edwards, who gave it to Reid for an excellent look that rimmed out.

Doncic led all scorers with 32 points, and had a triple-double thanks to his 13 assists and 10 rebounds. Irving deputized him with 20 points, while the duo of Lively and Daniel Gafford combined for 30 points, 14 rebounds, and five blocks. For Minnesota, Reid’s 23 points led the way. While Edwards had 21 and Karl-Anthony Towns had 15, the two combined to shoot 9-for-33 from the floor, which is not going to be good enough against the Mavericks.

Now, the series will shift to Dallas, and while the Mavs should feel fantastic considering they took both games off of the Wolves on their home floor, Minnesota has been an outrageous road team during this postseason. Game 3 will take place on Sunday night at 8 p.m. EST on TNT.