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By the end of the first quarter in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals, the Dallas Mavericks were up by double digits, the Target Center was quiet and Luka Dončić was on pace for 80 points.
It didn’t get much better from there for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Two days after saving their season, the Timberwolves were eliminated from the NBA playoffs in a game that was barely competitive after 12 minutes and was basically over at halftime. The Mavericks were up 69-40 the first time they ran back to the locker room and ultimately won 124-103.
Dallas will advance to face the Boston Celtics in its first trip to the NBA Finals since winning it all in 2011. Tip-off is scheduled for next Thursday at 8:30 p.m. ET in Boston (ABC).
The architect of the Timberwolves’ situation was, of course, Dončić, who finished with 36 points on 14-of-22 shooting with 10 rebounds, five assists and two steals. He was named MVP of the series after the game after averaging 32.4 points across five games.
His 20 first-quarter points pushed the Mavericks to an early lead that just kept growing bigger. It would have been more shocking if the team hadn’t done the same exact thing in an elimination game two years ago.
The Mavericks spent the second quarter dunking all over the Timberwolves, and TNT’s Ernie Johnson followed suit in the halftime show.
“They have opened up a serious can here at Target Center.” – Ernie Johnson
“Can of what, Ernest?” – Kenny Smith
“Can of whoop ass. 69-40. Man alive.” – EJ 🏀🎙️😂 pic.twitter.com/46nnNii9s6
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 31, 2024
The Timberwolves entered the second half needing the largest halftime comeback in NBA playoff history. They allowed an alley-oop from Dončić to P.J. Washington on the first play of the third quarter. That frame actually ended up being a relative improvement for Minnesota in that it was only down 24 points entering the fourth.
Kyrie Irving led the effort in keeping the Timberwolves down, scoring 17 second-half points on his way to matching Dončić with 36, plus five assists and four rebounds. Mavericks rookie Dereck Lively II also broke an NBA record by…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba-playoffs-mavericks-humiliate-timberwolves-in-game-5-elimination-advance-to-nba-finals-025731542.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-05-31 02:57:31
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