NBA Western Conference finals
No. 3 Timberwolves vs. No. 5 Dallas
(Mavericks lead best-of-seven series 2-0)
Game 3: Sunday, 7 p.m., American Airlines Center, Dallas
TV, radio: TNT/TruTV, 100.3 FM, iHeartRadio app
Stats and analysis: Tap here.
Opening bell: First-team All-NBA selection Luka Doncic delivered not only a 32-point, 13-assist, 10-rebound triple-double but also the comeback game-winner on a stepback three over outstretched big Rudy Gobert with three seconds left in Friday's Game 2. "When he got to dancing with Gobert, you could see the stepback was coming," Mavs coach Jason Kidd said afterward. "And the rest was history." The NBA's Sixth Man of the Year, Wolves center Naz Reid, had made seven of eight three-pointers, but his ninth attempt missed as time ran out. "I wasn't thinking. I almost passed out," Doncic said. "That was looking good, too good."
Players to watch: Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II, Mavericks. While Wolves stars Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards shot a combined 9-for-33, including 3-for-12 on threes, the two Mavs centers shot nearly 90% from the field, combined for 30 points and didn't attempt a single three. Starter Gafford was 8-for-10 with five blocks, backup Lively a perfect 6-for-6. "That's a good tandem," Kidd said. "Our bigs were really big tonight."
Injuries: Doncic (right knee sprain, left ankle soreness) and Wolves G Mike Conley (right calf strain) are again listed as questionable, as they have been regularly.
Forecast: Only five teams in NBA history have come back to win a best-of-seven series after it lost its first two games at home. The teams that beat the odds: the 1969 Los Angeles Lakers in six games over the San Francisco Warriors, the 1994 Houston Rockets in seven over the Phoenix Suns, the 2005 Dallas Mavericks in seven over Houston, the 2017 Boston Celtics in six over the Chicago Bulls and the 2021 L.A. Clippers in seven over Dallas. Doncic, Josh Green, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Maxi Kleber were on that Mavericks team coached by Rick Carlisle that won Games 1, 2 and 5 in Los Angeles but lost Games 3, 4 and 6 at home in Dallas as well as Game 7 in L.A. 126-111. The Clippers' road back started with a 118-108 win in Dallas in Game 3.
