Dallas has won two games at Target Center and now leads the best-of-seven Western Conference finals series 2-0. At the Target Center, Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (27), and Mavericks center Daniel Gafford (21), jump for the first tipoff of Game 2 of the Western Conference playoffs on Friday. Ringing the opening bell: first group In addition to his 32 points, 13 assists, and 10 rebounds triple-double in Friday’s Game 2, All-NBA selection Luka Doncic also made the game-winning stepback three over an outstretched big Rudy Gobert with three seconds remaining.
“You could tell the stepback was coming when he started dancing with Gobert,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd remarked following the game. “And the rest was history.” Naz Reid, the center for the Wolves and the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year, had made seven of his eight three-pointers, but as time expired, his ninth try went wide. “I hadn’t been paying attention. I nearly fainted,” Doncic remarked. “That was looking good, too good.”
Players to keep an eye on: Mavericks’ Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford. The two Mavs centers shot nearly 90% from the field, combined for 30 points, and didn’t attempt a three-pointer, while Wolves players Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards shot a combined 9-for-33, including 3-for-12 on threes. With five blocks, starting guard Gafford was 8 for 10, while backup Lively was flawless at 6 for 6. Kidd remarked, “That’s a good tandem.” “Our bigs were really big tonight.”
