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Tim MacMahon, ESPN Staff Writer
MINNEAPOLIS — After his 32-foot stepback dagger swished through the net, Luka Doncic stared into the Target Center crowd and shouted a profane reminder to nobody in particular.
“That’s what I f—ing do,” Doncic roared after the shot he launched from near the Minnesota Timberwolves‘ halfcourt logo stretched the Dallas Mavericks‘ lead to eight points with 1:04 remaining in their 120-114 win Tuesday night.
It certainly was a familiar sight. The clutch heroics of Doncic highlighted the Mavs’ five-game victory over the Timberwolves in last season’s Western Conference finals.
“We’ve seen this movie before,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “He loves the opportunity to win the game. He’s not scared, and he stepped up and made a big shot.”
Call this a sequel. The most memorable moment of the Mavs’ run to the NBA Finals last spring occurred on the same end of the Target Center floor, when Doncic danced with his dribble before drilling a Game 2-winning stepback 3-pointer over four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert.
Doncic celebrated that shot by loudly informing Gobert that the big man couldn’t guard him, peppering in a couple of expletives with his trash talk, although he kidded in the aftermath that he was speaking Slovenian.
Doncic hit this dagger over Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker and took the moment to respond to a fan base that expressed its hard feelings for him throughout the game.
“I heard a lot of stuff. They really like me here,” Doncic said with dry wit after his 27-point, 8-rebound, 9-assist performance. “You know, last year was fun. It was a big moment in my career and in my life, so it was fun to be back here.”
According to ESPN Research, in the West finals, Dallas became the first team in the play-by-play era (since 1997-98) to take a 3-0 series lead despite trailing with five minutes remaining in the first quarter in each of those games. The Mavs provided the Timberwolves a painful reminder of their closing prowess in the first meeting between these teams this regular season.
As was the case in the playoffs, Kyrie Irving co-starred alongside Doncic down the stretch. The Wolves didn’t lead down the stretch this time, but Minnesota whittled a Mavs lead that was 11 points entering the fourth quarter to a one-possession margin on four occasions in the final four minutes.
The Mavs answered with a bucket each time: a driving layup by Irving, an alley-oop from Doncic to P.J. Washington, an Irving 3 off the dribble and a Doncic finger roll after attacking Gobert on a closeout.
The Mavs scored 21 points in the final 7:15, when Doncic and Irving combined for 16.
“It’s just winning time,” said Irving, who scored 25 of his team-high 35 points in the second half. “I knew that we needed to create some separation in the game just to continue to ride on that confidence, and it worked out well for us. But we know that [Minnesota] is going to be a little bit different when we play them every single time. They’re going to make a little bit of adjustment here and there. And down the line, we’re going to see ’em pretty often.”
Another similarity to last season’s West finals: Doncic dealt with a sore right knee. He exited with 70 seconds remaining in the second quarter, hobbling to the locker room after Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels inadvertently hit him from behind on a drive.
Doncic returned to start the second half. His knee, which was sprained for most of the playoffs, had a wrap on it. He tested it with a series of jogs, skips, hops and defensive slides in the final few minutes of halftime.
It wasn’t until the fourth quarter, when Doncic led all scorers with 11 points, that he got in a groove. He has gotten off to a slow start after missing all of training camp and the preseason due to a left calf contusion. He’s shooting only 36.4% from the floor and 26.8% from 3-point range for the 3-1 Mavs.
Doncic was 10-of-27 from the floor and missed his first seven 3s on Tuesday night, a drought he ended with his 32-foot dagger.
“I don’t know how I can make those shots and not normal shots,” Doncic said. “I don’t know how I do it. At the end of the day, I’ve just got to get the rustiness out. I’ll be back. I didn’t play the whole preseason, so I need some time. But we got the win. That’s all that matters.”