Dallas’ Dereck Lively II battles against Rudy Gobert of the Minnesota Timberwolves during the second quarter in Game One of the Western Conference Finals at Target Center on May 22, 2024 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. | Photo by David Berding / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP
The Dallas Mavericks drew first blood in the NBA Western Conference Finals, beating the Minnesota Timberwolves, 108-104, in Game 1 of the best-of-seven series on Wednesday night (Thursday morning, May 23, Philippine time).
Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving led the Mavericks in scoring, logging 33 and 30 points, respectively to give Dallas a 1-0 lead in the long series.
Jaden McDaniels had 24 while Anthony Edwards added 19 for the Timberwolves, who were playing at their homecourt at the Target Center.
The winner of this Dallas-Minnesota series will face the winner in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals between the Indiana Pacers and the Boston Celtics.
Boston leads that series, 1-0.
READ MORE: NBA: Celtics rally to win East finals opener over Pacers in overtime
Dončić and Irving took turns in helping the Mavericks pull of the win. Dončić scored 15 of his 33 points in the crucial fourth quarter while Irving scored 24 of his 30 in the first half.
Karl-Anthony Towns needed a late burst to get to 16 points for Minnesota. He finished 6 for 20 from the field.
Dallas had a 62-38 advantage in points in the paint to offset a 6-for-25 shooting performance from deep. / with reports from the Associated Press