The Minnesota Timberwolves fell into a 0-3 hole Sunday in their Western Conference Finals series against the Dallas Mavericks. Several fans and media members pointed to one questionable decision that may have led to Minnesota’s Game 3 demise.
The Timberwolves lost 116-107 to the Mavs at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. Luka Doncic, as he has done all series long, made several big plays in crunch time to seal the win for Dallas.
LUKA FADE IS GOOD. MAVS UP 4.
2 minutes to play in Game 3 on TNT! pic.twitter.com/NlT5K1Z96O
— NBA (@NBA) May 27, 2024
The Timberwolves sparingly double-teamed Doncic throughout the contest, which completely baffled some spectators on X.
Stan Van Gundy has been all over this for the entire second half, but it’s pretty wild Minnesota is just letting Luka Doncic cook everyone in isolation without doubling.
And then Luka makes a great play to force a tie-up on Ant, too. He’s been dominant.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) May 27, 2024
whenever someone gets around to telling the timberwolves they’re allowed to double team it’s gonna be a game changer
— Shea Serrano (@SheaSerrano) May 27, 2024
Minnesota has let Luka Doncic try to beat them in isolation all series and he has successfully done so
— Sheldon Wohlman (@3swohlman) May 27, 2024
Doncic didn’t have the most gaudy numbers in Game 3. The Slovenian finished with 33 points on 10/20 shooting to go along with 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. But he made several winning plays down the stretch that repeatedly burned Minnesota.
The Timberwolves were content to let Jaden McDaniels defend Doncic one-on-one for most of the contest. Minnesota apparently didn’t learn from leaving Doncic in isolation during the closing seconds of Game 2.
Barring any miraculous comebacks, the Mavericks appear destined to meet the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals. The Celtics also lead their Eastern Conference Finals series 3-0 over the Indiana Pacers. Both the Mavericks and Celtics have yet to win an NBA championship in over a decade.
