With help from PJ Washington, the 5-seed Dallas Mavericks went into Minnesota and stole Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against the 3-seed Timberwolves.
Washington, who averaged 14.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game through the first two postseason series, nearly hit both benchmarks on Wednesday night. The 6-foot-9 forward chipped in 13 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks in the Mavericks’ tight 108-105 victory. Washington hit a pair of triples, marking the ninth Playoff game in a row he’s made at least two shots from deep. He played just a hair under 41 minutes — the most among any Dallas player.
Normally, the Mavericks have needed big games from Washington to come out with wins. Dallas is now 5-1 this postseason when the former Wildcat scores at least 13 points, but the superstars came out to play in Game 1. Luka Doncic dropped 33 points (15 in the fourth) while Kyrie Irving added 30 (24 in the first half) of his own. A timely 13-0 run early in the fourth quarter pushed Dallas in front before an 8-0 run down the stretch locked up the victory for good.
On the losing end, Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and one steal in 34 minutes. He also turned the ball over just once but shot a poor 6-20 from the field and went 2-9 from long range. Late in the contest with 1:41 to go, Towns thought he had tied the game up off a putback slam, but the officials ruled it basket interference. Doncic would score a minute later to make it a four-point Dallas lead.
Game 2 is set for Friday night at 8:30 p.m. EST on TNT back in Minnesota.
5/22/24 statistics
Tonight in the NBA Playoffs
ECF | Game 2 | BOS leads 1-0
8:00 (ESPN): [6] Pacers (Jackson) @ [1] Celtics
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