Mavericks Has The Opportunity To Reach The Third NBA Final In History

Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving scored 33 points each on Sunday, (photo: x @mavericks)

Dallas Mavericks has the opportunity to reach the NBA Final for the third time in the history of their franchise. The condition is that they must wipe out the Minnesota Timberwolves in the West Region 4 final on Tuesday night, May 28 or Wednesday morning WIB.

Mavericks scored 14 of the last 17 points to win home win 116-107 in Game 3 on Sunday night, which brought them five wins from their second NBA title, after last winning the crown in 2011.

Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving scored 33 points each on Sunday, May 26, but Mavericks also made an important contribution from PJ Washington, Daniel Gafford, and Derrick Jones Jr. in a win that gave them a 3-0 lead in the series.

Gafford, obtained in February from Washington Wizards, had to work hard after his teammate, Dereck Lively II, left the match with a neck injury in the third quarter.

Gafford played for 29 minutes, the longest time in his playoff career, and provided a crucial moment by blocking Mike Conley with 56 seconds remaining before scoring a DUk from the Alley-loop Doncic pass 22 seconds later to ensure victory.

Lively was immediately taken to the dressing room after being hit in the knee of Karl-Anthony Towns on the back of his head while falling in an attempt to win the rebound. He reportedly passed a concussion test, but his status for Game 4 is still uncertain.

Either with or without Lively, Gafford admits after Sunday's win that Mavericks' success on the pitch is closely related to the non-selfish game of Doncic and Irving.

"We're trying to find loopholes and positions where we can help the team," said Gafford. "Everyone puts their trust in us to finish around the basket. And that's what we do."

The last time Mavericks took a 3-0 lead in a playoffs series was in 2011 when they wiped out the Los Angeles Lakers in the semifinals of the Western Region on their way to the title.

When he was told after the game 3 win that no team in NBA history had ever lost after leading 3-0 in the playoffs, Irving didn't want to take it lightly. "That doesn't mean anything at this time," Irving said of 154 times the team won their first three games in the playoffs series. "Towards Game 4, the score remains 0-0. And that's the mentality we have in that dressing room."

After being detained with a 33.3 percent shot in two home defeats, Anthony Edwards got up for Minnesota by scoring 26 points from 11-of-24 shots at Game 3. However, All-Star team-mate Karl-Anthony Towns continued to struggle, failing in all eight of his three-point attempts that night, with a total of 14 points from 5-of-18 shots. Towns has now recorded 15-in-54 overall and 3-from-22 from three-point shots in the series, but did not appear to be disturbed when asked about that after the game 3 defeat.

"I did 1,500 shots a day. Shoot very well throughout this playoffs," Towns said. "The confidence is very high, and it has these unlucky reflections, these shots don't come in. It's difficult. I don't mean to smile, but you have to laugh. It's very disappointing."

Timberwolves have previously fallen 3-0 in the best-of-seven series just once in their history and responded well, forcing the defending champion Denver Nuggets to fifth last year's game in the first round by winning 114-108 at home in Game 4.