Luka Doncic enjoyed the luxury of being paired with another superstar for most of the Wednesday’s Western Conference finals opener. He struggled by his perennial first-team All-NBA standards for the first 36 minutes, but his Dallas Mavericks remained within striking distance of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
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.
“I just said to myself, ‘We got to win this game. I gotta be way better,'” Doncic said. “Because three quarters, I didn’t play good. So I just came into the fourth, got to my spots and lead the team to win.”
Doncic, who has been dealing with a sprained right knee since the first round and is being guarded by second-team All-Defensive selection Jaden McDaniels, misfired on 12 of his first 19 shots from the floor before knocking down a series of tough jumpers in the fourth quarter.
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 Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
After the Wolves rallied to regain the lead, Doncic went to work again. His step-back over Anthony Edwards’ 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.
“We know he’s one of the best scorers of all time, really,” Irving said. “That means he’s proven it, and when he’s going out there and not necessarily playing well offensively in the first half, I know in the second half he’s going to be aggressive. I think we’ve been able to figure out that one-two punch of just playing the point guard role and playing that main scorer’s role and just not lacking in other areas in the basketball game.”
Irving also acknowledged he was especially eager to get off to a good start after seeing Edwards’ TNT interview immediately after the Timberwolves’ Game 7 win over the Denver Nuggets to earn the right to meet the Mavs. Edwards gleefully declared that he would get the assignment of guarding Irving.
“He said it right then and there, and I think the whole world was looking like, ‘OK, better know what you’re talking about,'” Irving said. “And 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’re on that court, I know he’s going to give his all and I’m going to give him my all.”
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.