Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving each scored 33 points to send the Dallas Mavericks a win away from reaching the NBA Finals with Sunday's 116-107 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals. (More Basketball News)
WIth its star guard ta💖ndem leading the way, the fifth-seeded Mavericks dominated the game's final five minutes to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Dallas can eliminate the third-seeded Timberwolves and earn its first trip to the Final🍸s since 2011 when it hosts Game 4 on Tuesday.
No team in NBA hi💞s🐠tory has come back to win a best-of-seven play-off series after losing the first three games.
That's the challenge now facing Minnesota, which clung to a 104-102 lead with five minutes left before the Mavericks seized control for good w🍸ith a 14-1 run.
Anthony Edwards finishe💙d with 26 points for the Timberwolves, but just four of those came in the pivotal fourth quarter. Minnesota's other All-Star, Karl-Anthony Towns, was held scoreless in the final period aft🎶er recording 14 points over the first three quarters.
Irving had🤪 14 fourth-quarter points and six during the deciding spurt, which he began with a driving layup that tied the game at 104-104 with 4:35 left. P.J. Washington then sent Dallas ahead by knocking down a 3-pointer🔴 on its next possession, and the Mavericks held Minnesota without a field goal until Edwards scored the game's final points on a layup with 15.3 seconds left.
Dallas♔ built a lead as large as 12 points in the first half and went into the break with a 60-52 advantage behind Doncic's 15 points and 14 from Irving. The Mavericks were up by 10 near the midway stage of the third quarter before Minnesota reversed momentum with an 13-1 run.
Edwards had eight straight points during the flurry, along with an assist 💮on Naz Reid's layup that gave the Timberwolv🗹es a 79-77 edge with 3:54 left in the third.
Three-point shooting also played a part in Dallas' victory, as the Mavs finished 14 of 28 from beyond th🐻e arc. The Timberwolves were 9 of 30 from 3-point range, with Towns missin🍰g all eight of his attempts.
