MINNEAPOLIS — Luka Magic strikes again!
Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic, who looked hobbled all night long against Minnesota, hit a dagger three in the waning seconds of Game 2 in the Western Conference Finals to earn his team a 109-108 win over the Timberwolves.
The shot -- one of Doncic's patented step-back threes -- gave Dallas a 2-0 series lead, with the Mavs stealing two games in Minnesota prior to the WCF even arriving in Dallas for Game 3.
The final-second heroics from their star guard now finds the Mavericks just two wins removed from returning to the NBA Finals for the first time since they won the title in 2011.
The stars did what they needed to for Dallas in Game 2. Hobbled or not, Doncic ended up with a triple-double in this one, registering 32 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds. His running mate Kyrie Irving kept up his end of the bargain too, contributing 20 points and six assists, including 13 fourth-quarter points and a number of clutch late-game threes right when the Mavs needed them.
Star Mavericks center Dereck Lively II kept up his impressive postseason play on the night as well, contributing 14 off-the-bench points and nine boards to the cause.
Friday's game by no means started out like the Mavs had it in hand. Much like in Wednesday's Game 1, the Timberwolves held all the early momentum in this one -- and to an even greater extent this time around, as they built up an 18-point lead over the Mavericks at one point in the second quarter.
It wasn't the hottest of the starts for Dallas in Game 2, no. Mavs players P.J. Washington and Derrick Jones Jr. each hoisted air-balls in the first quarter. Meanwhile, T-wolves big men Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns flashed early on an offensive spark that they failed to muster in the series opener.
Slowly but surely, though, the Mavericks chipped away at that lead and clawed their way back into this contest.
By halftime, the lead was down to 12. Then, two-thirds of the way through the third quarter, the Mavs cut the lead down to two, and eventually entered the fourth quarter down seven points.
They kept that same energy throughout the start of the fourth quarter, too, as an Irving three-pointer with 10:22 left in the game capped the Mavs' comeback and earned the team its first lead since the game's earliest minutes.
From that point on, the game proved a slugfest, with each team trading blows and exchanging leads as the final buzzer approached.
It all happened at a breakneck speed, too: a deep Irving three here; sloppy turnovers on both sides there; a Naz Reid three here (the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year went a staggering seven-for-nine from deep in this one); and a wild, falling-over finger roll from Daniel Gafford after a full-court pass from Doncic there.
Capping it all off was Doncic's stepback three in isolation over Gobert, giving the Mavs their final lead of the night with three seconds remaining.
One final shot from Minnesota -- a three of their own from Reid at the buzzer that clanked off the back rim -- wasn't enough to even up the series.
Instead, the Mavericks take Games 1 and 2 on the road, and earn a commanding 2-0 lead as the series heads to Dallas for Game 3.
Tip off in that contest at the American Airlines Center is set for 7 p.m. on Sunday, May 26.