24 hours after Boston recovered from another deficit to snatch a commanding 3-0 series lead out East, Dallas’ determined defensive efforts down the stretch proved decisive as they joined Joe Mazzulla’s ball club in being one game away from punching their ticket into this season’s NBA Finals – powered by star backcourt Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving alongside an inspired Daniel Gafford.
WCF Finals: Dallas dice Wolves once again, one more to go
- Luka Doncic (33 pts, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and steals) and Kyrie Irving (33 pts, 4 ast) both scored 33 points each, recording 30+ points each for the third time this postseason, tied-fifth most by duo in playoff history
- P.J. Washington posted a 16-point, 8-rebound game with two big threes while Derrick Jones Jr had a trio of clutch triples and Gafford made his presence felt with defensive plays late after Lively II (neck) was sidelined
- Not over just yet! Doncic’s TNT interview after Dallas seize 3-0 series lead: “They tried to double me and Ky [Irving], that makes us better as everyone touches the ball. It’s an amazing win, executing down the stretch but it’s not done yet – if we get one more then we need to rest but for now, focus and play the same. We know they have Anthony Edwards….”
YOU cannot become a championship contender without capable role players who can step up when called upon, and Dallas’ dreams of winning the ultimate prize were again boosted by their big man – for all the talk of Dereck Lively II’s excellent play, especially through recent family tragedy, it was another center who stepped up after the rookie sustained a scary-looking neck sprain early in the second quarter.
Daniel Gafford, one of two midseason acquisitions, started this contest blocking Karl-Anthony Towns’ driving dunk in the first minute and ended with a series of key defensive plays to help Dallas evade capture against a Timberwolves team who didn’t get franchise star Anthony Edwards on the ball enough in crunch time.
Whether by design or unintentional, that decision proved costly on the road and now they’re facing a win-or-go-home scenario midweek. He was their leading scorer with 26 points on 24 shot attempts, adding nine assists and nine rebounds in 43 minutes.
Gafford swatted away Towns’ driving layup with 5:20 left and although Kyle Anderson hit a hail mary two to give Minnesota a 104-102 lead as time expired on the subsequent play, that whole sequence ate up 15 seconds they would later need.
Luka Doncic hailed his teammates’ ability to execute in high-pressure situations during a brief postgame interview. Irving and P.J. Washington, their other midseason addition, were key here – assisting one another, as Gafford gobbled up rebounds before denying Mike Conley’s layup attempt – his third block – with 56.1 remaining.
For context, Timberwolves tallied just two as a team… both from reserve forward Anderson (10 points, 3 assists, two blocks in 17 minutes)
Although the cohesion between him and his Slovenian superstar guard isn’t as smooth as Lively II, the pair combined as Gafford iced the game after thunderously flushing an alley-oop dunk pass over Rudy Gobert some 20 seconds later.
He made the free-throw to complete a three-point play, giving them a nine-point lead and those defensive actions earlier – more than four minutes passed without a made Minnesota field goal – helped their hosts earn another crowd-pleasing win.
NBA teams hold a 154-0 record when 3-0 up in a postseason series, and that number will almost certainly improve to 156-0 later this week after Dallas joined Boston in owning a historically unassailable advantage against a pair of teams not expected to reach the conference finals in mid-April. That detail’s not their problem, though.
What’s next?
Indiana Pacers vs. Boston Celtics
Game 4, Eastern Conference Finals (Boston lead 3-0)
Live on ESPN overnight Tuesday, 1am BST
Picture source: Getty Images, quotes via TNT broadcast
Mo and Sports 