Mavericks edge Timberwolves in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals [REACTION] | SC with SVP

These teams have not faced each other since January 31, a minute has passed now it matters a lot and early Kyrie Irving in his bag and in his loafers doing his thing 13 in the first quarter Irving with the handles and the shovel that are three Finally, in a difficult way, just before the middle of that great basket, he had 24 in the first half and Jaden McDaniels was the story of Minnesota, we know him as a complete defensive stopper, but he was the one who made the most triples, five triples in the First half. that he had had in any half of his career.

Jay McDaniels had 19 in the first half, which ties him for the most in a half in any

game

of his career. What if an ant hits big from there and the math adds up to a three-point lead? for the Wolves midway through the third quarter Mavericks down three no one better to execute that action Luca up Daniel Gafford big lob from Luca and it's a one point deficit wolves one down and no oh Carl Anthony towns gets this one about a foot past the Rim drops the hammer and Minnesota goes down one on Run Nas Reed blocks Josh Green, the

game

is going the other way, keep an eye on Reed, that's your man stord Steve, he's the one who counted for three tremendous effort begins the break in one direction with the block and ends up reaching the corner three six Man of the Year great effort play there last quarter Mavericks down Luca patented step back rattles at home Mavs down one next Mavs possession Luca talking about patented I thought he was going to take a step back I didn't need the three, the Mavericks were up two by four, Donic gets up from the glass, there's Dereck Lley's follower, they've been such an important part of this playoff run, a streak of 13 to nothing and it's a four point game, but there's going to the cities, gudy, come on, bear, it's a two point game, the cities from far away hit about four and a half to go to the home team on top by one of the wolves, one makes four and a big hit, but on Maverick's next possession, Luca takes a step back. a bucket Mavs down one with two left in the game here comes Luca proving the defense misses a good find in the corner Kyrie bounced past PJ Washington Mavericks led by two next T Wolves possession is Mike Connley look pretty clean just resonates there's the kickback, but wait, bucket interference, let's take a look from above, you'll be able to see it from here oo Steve, let him play, evaluate, let him play, that's hard in less than a minute.

Luca again, huge, huge bucket as he had 15 in the fourth quarter it's still a four point game late and there's a quick pull oh man Mike Connley fouled out where I don't know his foot was behind the line , so you're going to need everything to go right if you're rooting for the home team, you're not, and if you're rooting for the away team, that's a big dub, as the Mavericks for the first time with Jason Kid get a victory in the first game, the first matches of the previous Five series with him. They lost and still won four out of five, so this is Uncharted Territory, but in a very positive way, since they get a victory that makes them a lot like the Peters, now they don't have the home ice but the home court while they They head to the second game.

Here's Kyrie afterward on the meaning of the win with Ashley Shima. Well, Kyrie's games have been a little bit like Kryptonite for this team, but what was different for you guys tonight, I mean, we came in very prepared and we knew it. They were coming off a grueling seventh game so we wanted to make sure we picked up the pace and the first game is an F our game so we knew they were going to come out with high intensity and we just had to match it and uh. In the fourth quarter I felt like we made timely stops and we did the right things, we did the little things.

You had 24 points in the first half. Kyrie, what did Minnesota give you? What did you see about them that allowed you to be so aggressive so early? I saw the paint wide open once Rudy wasn't in the game and then, you know, a few times in transition I felt like I could take advantage, so I was just trying to beat them down the court and get some easy plays before to distribute with Ant Edward and Edwards in the half court defensively, oh absolutely, and you've been in this situation in the playoffs, in the

conference

finals

, how difficult is it to really win on the road and how important is it to win a game for setting the tone in the series, yes this is the toughest time in basketball right now.

I mean, they are the best players in the world, there are only four teams left, so any little mistake you make here, the other team will take advantage of it, but it's great. The test is a great testament to our hard work throughout the season and all the little things we've been doing for each other on and off the court and the last question, Kyrie, you said the games are a little bit like sensation games, what are they? So far you feel like you are going to participate in the second game. Well, this game is about to end in about 48 minutes, you know, or an hour or so, it doesn't matter, we know they're going in. uh next game and give us your best chance again and uh we just have to be able to match it and be able to continue with our game plan Kyrie, thank you very much, see you on Friday.

Don't know. I think we just came out, today we came out flat, I mean, and then we found our energy, then we went back to flat, so I think it was all up to us today, I didn't go down that much, um, yeah, just. Things like that, we were just a little Tire, probably for you two, you two, you two, Nille and Kyle, too, on a bike, who was protecting Luca and Kyrie. How does choosing who stays work? that and how did you guys feel when you handled those matchups today uh I mean if Jaden is in the game and only one of those guys is in the game, Jaden is probably going to defend one of them, um, but if they're both in a game. and his man his Jay, Jay and I will be on him or if none of the three of us are in the game and I'm a little tired, I tell none of them to give me a break, but I think we did a pretty good job, both. they made 24 shots LCA took 26 Kyrie took 23 actually had 30 and 33 so I think we did a pretty good job terrible offense down the stretch bad shots turnovers no composure um you know um and we thought the same thing at the end of the first half because you know we haven't really closed the quarters very well, the halves very well closed in the last few games. um, you know, it cost us a game in the Denver series, um, you know, and I certainly had an impact on this game tonight as well. so we became better in the decisive moments, you shot a lot more threes than you normally do, that part of the plan was just with his protection or how, what did you think of the selection in general?

To be honest, they were good shots. You were doing Drive making a correct play kicking. I thought there were even more 3-pointers, so you mentioned rim protection as a factor in the series. How did you see him? Lively and Gafford's presence on The Rim impacts your offense. I mean, I thought we could have finished a little more around the rim. I thought we kicked a lot. Know. I thought you knew they were big there, but. To be honest, I didn't think we had a lot of really good looks? Know? Luca described how important the victory was, especially given the building where they won it.

Minnesota was tremendously good at home 30 and 11, but now in the playoffs. just three and three and they're facing the same thing the Rangers faced in the Stanley Cup playoffs a monster home game on Friday it's the fourth quarter it's a back and forth They're landing Haymakers Dallas gets this win Luke and Kyrie are right, They teamed up exactly the way a duo should, ultimately the difference in this game was that Dallas made critical defensive stops when they had to and these were like textbook defensive possessions, it wasn't like Minnesota contributed to it. , they took on Anthony Edwards when they had to. and you even saw great rotations from Luca, a great effort from Luca came with a couple of deflections.

The defensive play of the game was the lob he snapped off Rudy Goar at the end of a great defensive possession. You saw Luca retreat and reach so high. As he can, I think from the ground to break that lob and then Scott, on the other end, you saw the greatness of Luca with the shooting of him controlling the game and I and I had a pretty good feeling against this defense and these type of defenders . Luca was going. He's had a lot of success, but I think this was the best I've seen him as a pitcher at the end of games this postseason because throughout the games he starts to drag his leg a little and doesn't look as fresh at the end. . games that was not the case tonight and once they found themselves in a situation where it was a one possession game, he knew that the way he was going to have to win this game was as a scorer and he had a great time . individual possessions where he got to the spot of him right there, for example, he hits the steepest and a great great possession right there for Dallas.

Luca will join us here at Sports Center and we hope to ask him about the fourth quarter and about how as soon as you said it I wrote it down and underlined it, just think about how many years we've been sitting here talking and how many years we've been talking about Luca and how many times You've praised their defense and now it's a Western Conference

finals

and their effort and that's the key in that sense helps make the difference in a victory. That's a little ironic, isn't it a little teaser that it will be a big part of the touch screen because it?

If he had some tough closeouts on guys to the three-point line, you know, expending a lot of energy when you carry that load on the other end for him to do that on the defensive end, I mean, that's what it takes, and he did it tonight, man, he put it on the line, they were very, very smart, how they handled the possessions late in the game, um and I thought, look, Minnesota made 49 three-pointers in this game, the most they've ever made. In the postseason there are 40, that was clearly it. Dallas strategy: load the paint, take as many threes as you want, eventually you're going to go cold 7 of 24 in the second half and that was what at halftime you think they can't shoot like that, it's like no matter what level you're at. playing, you just assume they can't stay that warm, they didn't.

That was the goal that Carl Anthony aimed at the cities. It's the closest thing I've seen. Honestly, I'm not sure. A splinter from that basketball fell on top of that cylinder. I guess by the letter of the law that's offensive goaltending, but it's as hard for me to figure out on a replay as I think I've ever seen on a tip. Getting wet like that, that's a hard look.