Luka Doncic finished with 36 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, and the Dallas Mavericks pulled away for a 124-103 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Minneapolis to advance to the NBA finals yesterday (Philippine time).
The Mavericks eliminated the Timberwolves in five games in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals.
Dallas will play the Boston Celtics for the title in a seven-game series that is scheduled to begin on June 6 in Boston.
This marks Dallas’ first appearance in the NBA finals since 2011, when Dirk Nowitzki led the franchise to its first and only championship.
Kyrie Irving finished with 36 points on 14-for-27 shooting for the Mavericks.
P.J. Washington contributed 12 points and seven rebounds.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 28 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to lead Minnesota.
Anthony Edwards also finished with 28 points for the Timberwolves, whose magical season ended after winning 56 games in the regular season and reaching the conference finals for the first time since 2004.
Doncic took command in the first quarter to give Dallas the lead for good.
The Mavericks’ 25-year-old superstar poured in 20 points in the first quarter. He helped Dallas finish the quarter on a 17-1 run to grab a 35-19 lead.
Doncic scored eight consecutive points during the run with a step-back jump shot and back-to-back three-pointers.
He assisted on the final play of the quarter as Irving made a driving layup with one second to go.
Dallas continued their dominance in the second quarter as it outscored the Timberwolves, 34-21.
That gave the Mavericks a 69-40 advantage at the break.
The Timberwolves trailed 97-73 at the end of the third quarter.
Towns scored five points in a row late in the quarter, with two free throws and a three-pointer, but Doncic closed the scoring with a pull-up jumper.
Minnesota never threatened in the fourth quarter. Irving hit a step-back three-pointer to increase Dallas’ lead to 108-80 with 8:09 remaining.
With the game out of hand, Doncic grinned from the bench and wore a towel around his shoulders as his teammates finished the final few minutes. (Field Level Media / Reuters)