DALLAS — The NBA playoff bracket is down to its final four teams, and the Dallas Mavericks now find themselves four wins away from the NBA Finals. In their way is the defensively stout Minnesota Timberwolves, a team that is making their first trip to the Western Conference Finals in 20 years for a franchise that has never reached the NBA Finals in their turbulent history.
Fittingly, after vanquishing the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in round two, the Mavs are now faced with another I-35 rivalry, this one a little further north than their neighbors from OKC, and like the series against the Thunder, this series will pit two of the league’s exciting young superstars against each other as they look to stamp their legacies.
Minnesota is led by 22-year-old 2020 No. 1 overall pick Anthony Edwards, who ascended to have an MVP-conversation caliber season in his fourth year after being drafted out of Georgia.
After rising to become Minnesota’s franchise star, Edwards has elevated his play in the playoffs, averaging 28.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 5.9 assists in 11 games so far. He is lethal on the court, as he develops into one of the sports’ best, and he provides great sound bits off it, just what the NBA likes to see as the search begins for the league’s next great marketable star.
Edwards pushing himself to become the Timberwolves top option over Karl Anthony Towns – a former No. 1 overall selection himself – directly correlates with their winning percentage improving since Edwards joined the team. As a result, Towns has blossomed into a great running mate while Edwards gets all the media attention.
It’s been a stark turnaround for Minnesota, whose front office was scrutinized for paying a steep price to acquire Rudy Gobert’s services, but the results have given them a menacing frontcourt that will be giving Dallas centers Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford all that they can handle. Dallas’ lob party will now contend with the Defensive Player of the Year protecting the paint, and a Minnesota defense that ousted Kevin Durant and his Phoenix Suns and then sent now three-time MVP Nikola Jokic and the defending champion Denver Nuggets to Cancun in consecutive series.
For Dallas, whatever pain that Luka Doncic is feeling from his various ailments is aided by seeing how close he is to the Larry O’Brien trophy. Doncic looked better and better as the series versus OKC progressed, with his best games coming in the eliminator.
Edwards and Doncic going shot for shot and talking trash will be tremendous content, as will the defensive battles between the team with the league’s best defensive rating and the now brick wall Dallas D that transformed over the season’s final few weeks to become one of the league’s toughest units to crack.
Can Dallas still expect Luka Magic even with his lingering knee sprain? Gobert will be waiting on Doncic’s drives to the basket. The difference from prior playoff runs is that Doncic now has Kyrie Irving waiting for a pass when he runs into those walls, and Irving has Derrick Jones Jr. or P.J. Washington waiting if he needs to kick out as well. Both of Dallas’ starting wing players stepped it up in the series against the Thunder and Dallas will need them to be at the top of their game again against Minnesota.
Irving had a quiet series against Oklahoma City by his lofty standards, but the chance of moving his own redemption story into the next chapter bodes well for the Dallas faithful. Imagine Irving returning to Boston and helping his new team win a championship. That scenario is on the table if Dallas can get through Minnesota and the Celtics take care of business in the East finals.
But Irving and Dallas would be wise to not overlook the Timberwolves after they had their mettle tested while taking out the champs, becoming the first team to trail by 15 or more points at halftime of a Game 7 and come back to win.
Like Minnesota, the Mavericks have been anchored in this playoff run by their defense. Led by Washington and Jones Jr. on the perimeter, and with rookie Lively playing beyond his years to defend the rim, it has been the surprise of the season for Dallas to see their defense become championship-caliber as they’ve disposed of the aging superstar-heavy Los Angeles Clippers and then the MVP runner-up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with OKC.
Both Washington and Jones Jr. have pushed their stock in this playoff run, while Lively looks like a fixture for years to come. They will now get tested by the league’s third best three-point shooting team from the regular season, as will Lively and Gafford by Towns and Gobert down low.
The Timberwolves won the regular season series three games to one, but the lone win for Dallas came in the only game in which both Doncic and Irving suited up together as Dallas dealt with injuries to their star backcourt earlier in the season. Regardless, the slate is wiped clean, and none of the four matchups between these squads came after the Mavericks acquired Washington and Gafford at the Feb. 8 NBA trade deadline. This is simply a different squad now.
The next two weeks will be a rollercoaster of emotions for the city of Dallas. Both tenants of the American Airlines Center will be fighting to make it to their respective league’s championship round with the Dallas Stars still in the mix for the Stanley Cup. For the Mavericks, the possibility of June basketball is there for the taking, if they can overcome the new face of the NBA and his franchise-narratives-altering teammates from Minnesota.
Do you think the Mavericks will topple the Timberwolves to reach the NBA Finals? Share your predictions with Irvin on X (formerly Twitter) @Twittirv.