{"id":9242,"date":"2024-05-23T12:00:31","date_gmt":"2024-05-23T12:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=9242"},"modified":"2024-05-23T12:00:31","modified_gmt":"2024-05-23T12:00:31","slug":"nba-playoffs-luka-doncic-kyrie-irving-star-in-mavs-game-one-win-over-timberwolves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=9242","title":{"rendered":"NBA Playoffs: Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving star in Mavs Game One win over Timberwolves"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 51 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>

Luka Doncic\u00a0enjoyed the luxury of being paired with another superstar for most of the Wednesday\u2019s Western Conference finals opener. He struggled by his perennial first-team All-NBA standards for the first 36 minutes, but his\u00a0Dallas Mavericks\u00a0remained within striking distance of the\u00a0Minnesota Timberwolves.<\/p>\n

Irving scored 24 of his 30 points in the first half to buy Doncic time to find his rhythm. Doncic came through as the closer for the Mavs, scoring 15 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter as Dallas came back to pull off a 108-105 Game 1 win.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just said to myself, \u2018We got to win this game. I gotta be way better,’\u201d Doncic said. \u201cBecause three quarters, I didn\u2019t play good. So I just came into the fourth, got to my spots and lead the team to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doncic, who has been dealing with a sprained right knee since the first round and is being guarded by second-team All-Defensive selection\u00a0Jaden McDaniels, misfired on 12 of his first 19 shots from the floor before knocking down a series of tough jumpers in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

Anthony Edwards guarded by Kyrie Photo Courtesy: AP<\/p>\n

Doncic went on an individual 7-0 run early in the quarter to give the Mavs the lead, hitting a couple of midrange shots over the 6-foot-10 McDaniels after snaking on pick-and-rolls and capping the run with a step-back 3 over\u00a0Nickeil Alexander-Walker.<\/p>\n

Luka Doncic Photo Courtesy: AP<\/p>\n

After the Wolves rallied to regain the lead, Doncic went to work again. His step-back over\u00a0Anthony Edwards\u2019 reach pulled the Mavs within a point with 3:14 remaining. Doncic hit an off-dribble midrange dagger over McDaniels with 49 seconds on the clock.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know he\u2019s one of the best scorers of all time, really,\u201d Irving said. \u201cThat means he\u2019s proven it, and when he\u2019s going out there and not necessarily playing well offensively in the first half, I know in the second half he\u2019s going to be aggressive. I think we\u2019ve been able to figure out that one-two punch of just playing the point guard role and playing that main scorer\u2019s role and just not lacking in other areas in the basketball game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Derrick Jones Jr. Photo Courtesy: AP
\nAnthony Edwards Photo Courtesy: AP<\/p>\n

Irving also acknowledged he was especially eager to get off to a good start after seeing Edwards\u2019 TNT interview immediately after the Timberwolves\u2019 Game 7 win over the\u00a0Denver Nuggets\u00a0to earn the right to meet the Mavs. Edwards gleefully declared that he would get the assignment of guarding Irving.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said it right then and there, and I think the whole world was looking like, \u2018OK, better know what you\u2019re talking about,’\u201d Irving said. \u201cAnd I respect that. That no-fear mentality that he has is why I love him as a competitor and why I love him as a person. But when we\u2019re on that court, I know he\u2019s going to give his all and I\u2019m going to give him my all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dereck Lively Photo Courtesy: AP
\nAnthony Edwards drives to the rim Photo Courtesy: AP<\/p>\n

According to ESPN Stats & Information, Doncic and Irving became the first duo in NBA history to each score 30 points in a series opener twice during the same playoff run.<\/p>

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Luka Doncic\u00a0enjoyed the luxury of being paired with another superstar for most of the Wednesday\u2019s Western Conference finals opener. He struggled by his perennial first-team All-NBA standards for the first… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9243,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}