Doncic and Irving lead Mavs to Finals
It quickly became clear that Doncic in particular had no desire to participate in Game 6. The 25-year-old sank his first five jumpers as Minnesota's offense looked sluggish and looked to put Doncic on mismatches. Gobert had the most attempts in the first quarter (7) – not ideal. When Gobert then tied the game 1-1 against Doncic, Doncic turned things around again and went on a 17-1 run in the final 5:43 minutes of the quarter. Dallas led 35:19, and Doncic (20, 8/11) had more points than the entire state of Minnesota.
Dallas' defense was another factor, and the Wolves could not find any solutions because jumpers did not fall and the visitors defended the basket aggressively as usual. It wasn't easy for Minnesota, as Towns and Edwards were able to finish under pressure at least a few times and cut the score to -16. But Irving also found his rhythm (15, 5/5 in the second quarter), and Dallas regained full control and went on to lead 17:4 again, so that the lead became 69:40 at the break. The Mavs' two backcourt stars combined for 44 points (17/27 F).
It was as if the air had disappeared and the Mavs also scored on their first four possessions after the change. Minnesota started desperately shooting threes and Edwards hit at least a few of them. The Wolves tried a zone, Doncic doubled and threw everything at Dallas, but they scored 28 points again, so that Minnesota could only close the gap by 5 points (73:97). Ultimately, Doncic and Irving were so good, the Slovenian even hit a 3-pointer with Brett, This is what MJ's shake was for. With three minutes to go, the Wolves finally surrendered at -25, but the Mavs were able to celebrate.
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