{"id":120147,"date":"2024-10-30T18:10:48","date_gmt":"2024-10-30T11:10:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=120147"},"modified":"2024-10-30T18:10:48","modified_gmt":"2024-10-30T11:10:48","slug":"mavs-doncic-reminds-wolves-fans-of-west-finals-with-dagger-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=120147","title":{"rendered":"Mavs&#8217; Doncic reminds Wolves fans of West finals with dagger 3"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-meta\">\n<ul class=\"authors\">\n<li class=\"mugshot-shown\">\n<div class=\"author-img\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=\/i\/columnists\/full\/macmahon_tim.png&amp;h=80&amp;w=80&amp;scale=crop\" alt=\"\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\"\/><\/div>\n<p>Tim MacMahon, ESPN Staff Writer<span class=\"timestamp \">Oct 30, 2024, 12:35 AM ET<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"author-overlay\"><a class=\"icon-font-after icon-close-solid-after\" href=\"#\">Close<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009<\/li>\n<li>Covers the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Mavericks<\/li>\n<li>Appears regularly on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>MINNEAPOLIS &#8212; After his 32-foot step-back dagger swished through the net, <a data-player-guid=\"583794eb-0f38-9bbd-3e25-9dd33b7f83b8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/player\/_\/id\/3945274\/luka-doncic\">Luka Doncic<\/a> stared into the Target Center crowd and shouted a profane reminder to nobody in particular.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s what I f&#8212;ing do,&#8221; Doncic roared after the shot he launched from near the <a data-clubhouse-guid=\"13f727cb-254d-b484-a337-93fcc0047add\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/team\/_\/name\/min\/minnesota-timberwolves\">Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a>&#8216; half-court logo stretched the <a data-clubhouse-guid=\"f00d1f4e-4ce6-d581-466c-5b52531cf7ad\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/team\/_\/name\/dal\/dallas-mavericks\">Dallas Mavericks<\/a>&#8216; lead to eight points with 1:04 remaining in their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/game\/_\/gameId\/401704680\/mavericks-timberwolves\">120-114 win<\/a> Tuesday night.<\/p>\n<p>It certainly was a familiar sight. Clutch efforts by Doncic highlighted the Mavs&#8217; five-game victory over the Timberwolves in last season&#8217;s Western Conference finals.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve seen this movie before,&#8221; Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. &#8220;He loves the opportunity to win the game. He&#8217;s not scared, and he stepped up and made a big shot.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Call this a sequel. The most memorable moment of the Mavs&#8217; run to the NBA Finals last spring occurred on the same end of the Target Center court, when Doncic danced with his dribble before drilling a Game 2-winning step-back 3-pointer over four-time Defensive Player of the Year <a data-player-guid=\"78795dbf-3e02-934e-f796-d6a71375c9f5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/player\/_\/id\/3032976\/rudy-gobert\">Rudy Gobert<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Doncic celebrated that shot by loudly informing Gobert that the big man couldn&#8217;t guard him, peppering in a couple of expletives with his trash talk, although he kidded in the aftermath that he was speaking Slovenian.<\/p>\n<p>Doncic hit this dagger over Timberwolves guard <a data-player-guid=\"a67ef214-b56f-ca43-1558-7b2d13432f63\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/player\/_\/id\/4278039\/nickeil-alexander-walker\">Nickeil Alexander-Walker<\/a> and took the moment to respond to a fan base that expressed its hard feelings for him throughout the game.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I heard a lot of stuff. They really like me here,&#8221; Doncic said with dry wit after his 27-point, 8-rebound, 9-assist performance. &#8220;You know, last year was fun. It was a big moment in my career and in my life, so it was fun to be back here.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>According to ESPN Research, in the West finals, Dallas became the first team in the play-by-play era (since 1997-98) to take a 3-0 series lead despite trailing with five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter in each of those games. The Mavs provided the Timberwolves a painful reminder of their closing prowess in the first meeting between these teams this season.<\/p>\n<p>As was the case in the playoffs, <a data-player-guid=\"4fb2e3fc-ad79-d9bc-ddd9-bbb09f29ead3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/player\/_\/id\/6442\/kyrie-irving\">Kyrie Irving<\/a> co-starred alongside Doncic down the stretch. The Wolves didn&#8217;t lead down the stretch this time, but Minnesota whittled a Mavs lead that was 11 points entering the fourth quarter to a one-possession margin on four occasions in the final four minutes.<\/p>\n<p>The Mavs answered with a bucket each time: a driving layup by Irving, an alley-oop from Doncic to <a data-player-guid=\"a2ef18dc-dcba-f71b-e39c-e794921f8193\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/player\/_\/id\/4278078\/pj-washington\">P.J. Washington<\/a>, an Irving 3 off the dribble and a Doncic finger roll after attacking Gobert on a closeout.<\/p>\n<p>The Mavs scored 21 points in the final 7:15, when Doncic and Irving combined for 16.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s just winning time,&#8221; said Irving, who scored 25 of his team-high 35 points in the second half. &#8220;I knew that we needed to create some separation in the game just to continue to ride on that confidence, and it worked out well for us. But we know that [Minnesota] is going to be a little bit different when we play them every single time. They&#8217;re going to make a little bit of adjustment here and there. And down the line, we&#8217;re going to see &#8217;em pretty often.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Another similarity to last season&#8217;s West finals: Doncic dealt with a sore right knee. He exited with 70 seconds left in the second quarter, hobbling to the locker room after Minnesota&#8217;s <a data-player-guid=\"b7a78718-3dc4-395f-bbc5-dc5477126c1d\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/player\/_\/id\/4431671\/jaden-mcdaniels\">Jaden McDaniels<\/a> inadvertently hit him from behind on a drive.<\/p>\n<p>Doncic returned to start the second half. His knee, which was sprained for most of the playoffs, had a wrap on it. He tested it with a series of jogs, skips, hops and defensive slides in the final few minutes of halftime.<\/p>\n<p>It wasn&#8217;t until the fourth quarter, when Doncic led all scorers with 11 points, that he got into a groove. He has had a slow start to the season after sitting out all of training camp and the preseason because of a left calf bruise. He&#8217;s shooting only 36.4% from the field and 26.8% from 3-point range for the 3-1 Mavs.<\/p>\n<p>Doncic was 10-of-27 from the field and missed his first seven 3s on Tuesday night, a drought he ended with his 32-foot dagger.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know how I can make those shots and not normal shots,&#8221; Doncic said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know how I do it. At the end of the day, I&#8217;ve just got to get the rustiness out. I&#8217;ll be back. I didn&#8217;t play the whole preseason, so I need some time. But we got the win. That&#8217;s all that matters.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/story\/_\/id\/42084131\/mavs-doncic-reminds-wolves-fans-west-finals-dagger-3\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tim MacMahon, ESPN Staff WriterOct 30, 2024, 12:35 AM ET Close Joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009 Covers the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Mavericks Appears regularly on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=120147\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=120147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120147\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=120147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=120147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=120147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}