Mavericks edge Timberwolves in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals [REACTION] | SC with SVP

Mavericks edge Timberwolves in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals [REACTION] | SC with SVP

these teams haven’t met since January the 31st it’s been a minute now now it matters a ton and early on Kyrie Irving in his bag and in his moccasins doing his thing 13 in the first quarter Irving with the handles and the scoop that’s three the hard way ultimately right before the half that big bucket he had 24 in the first half and and Jaden McDaniels was the story for Minnesota we know him as a defensive stopper absolutely but he was knocking home threes five three-pointers in the first half the most he’d had in any half in his career Jay McDaniels had 19 in the first half which matches his most in a half in any game in his career how about ant big time hit from there and the math adds up to a three-point lead for the Wolves at the half third quarter Mavericks down three nobody better at running that action Luca up top Daniel Gafford great lob from Luca and it’s a one-point deficit wolves down one and no oh Carl Anthony towns gets this one about a foot Beyond The Rim drops the hammer and Minnesota down one on the Run Nas Reed gets the block on Josh Green play goes the other way keep an eye on Reed that’s that’s your man stord Steve it it is that counted up for three tremendous effort starts the break in a sense with the block and ends up getting the corner three six Man of the Year big time effort play there fourth quarter Mavericks down Luca patented step back rattles at home Mavs down one next Mavs possession Luca speaking of patented I thought he was going to step back didn’t need to all three of these the Mavericks up two leading by four donic pulls up off glass there’s the follow Dereck lley thei been such a big part of this playoff run a 13 to nothing run and it’s a four-point game but there goes towns gudy go bear it’s a two-point game towns from way out big time hit about four and a half to go home team on top by one wolves up one make it four ant huge hit but on the next Maverick’s possession Luca step back what a bucket Mavs down one about two to go in the game here comes Luca probing the defense kind of loses it a good find in the corner Kyrie bounced past PJ Washington Mavericks lead by two next T wolves possession it’s Mike connley pretty clean look just rattles out there’s the putback but hold on bucket interference let’s take a look from above you’ll be able to tell from here oo Steve let him play assess let him play that’s a that’s rough under a minute Luca again huge huge bucket as he had 15 in the fourth quarter it’s still a four-point game late and there’s a quick pull oh man Mike connley fouled where I don’t know his foot was behind the line so he makes the one you’re going to need everything to go just right if you’re rooting for the home team it does not and if you’re rooting for the road Squad that is a big time dub as the Mavericks for the first time under Jason kid pick up a game one Victory the previous Five series series openers under him they did lose still won four of the five so this is Uncharted Territory but in a very positive way as they get a victory that gives them much like the p ethers now they’ve got not home ice but home court as they head into game two here’s Kyrie afterwards on the significance of the win with Ashley Shima all right Kyrie game ones have been a little bit of a Kryptonite for this team what was different though for you guys tonight uh I mean we came in very prepared and and we knew that uh they were coming off a grueling game seven so we wanted to make sure that we push the pace and uh game one is a F our game so we knew they were going to come out with high intensity and uh we just had to match it and uh in the fourth quarter I felt like we got timely stops and we did the right things we did the little things you had 24 first half points Kyrie what did Minnesota give you what did you see from them that allowed you to be so aggressive so early uh I saw the paint wide open once Rudy wasn’t in the game and then uh you know a few times in uh transition I felt like I could take advantage so I was just trying to beat them up the court get some easy ones before I dealt with ant Edward an Edwards in the half court defensively oh absolutely and you’ve been in this situation in the playoffs in the conference finals how tough is it truly to win on the road and how important is it to win a game one to set the tone in the series yeah this is this is the toughest time of basketball right now I mean it’s the best players in the world only four teams left so uh any little mistake that you make out here the other team’s going to capitalize but uh it’s a great test it’s a great Testament to our hard work throughout the season and all the little things we’ve been doing for each other on and off the court and last question Kyrie you said game ones are a little bit of a feel out game so what are you feeling out so far that you’re going to take into game two uh well this game is about to be a wash in about 48 minutes you know or an hour or so it doesn’t matter we know they’re going to come in uh next game and give us their best shot again and uh we just got to be able to match it and and be able to continue to stick to our game plan Kyrie thank you so much we’ll see you Friday I don’t know I I think we just came out we came out flat today I mean and then we found our energy then we went back to being flat so I think it was just on us everything was on us today um I didn’t get downhill as much um yeah just stuff like that we was just a little Tire probably for both of you guys you kind of between the two of you and nille and Kyle as well kind of cycled who was guarding Luca and and Kyrie uh how does that work kind of choosing who who gets it and how did you guys feel like you handled those matchups today uh I mean it’s if Jaden’s in the game and just one of those guys in the game Jaden is probably going to guard one of them um but if both of them are in a game and his man Jay me and Jay going to be on him or if nil all three of us is in the game and I’m a little tired I tell nil to give me a break but I think we did a pretty good job man both of them took 24 Shots LCA took 26 Kyrie took 23 actually had 30 and 33 so I think we did a pretty good job terrible offense down the stretch bad shots turnovers no composure um you know um and thought for the same at the end of the first half because you know we got we haven’t really closed quarters very well closed halves very well over the last handful of games um you know it cost us one game in the Denver series um you know and I certainly had an impact on this game tonight too so we got to be better in in uh clutch moments you shot a lot more threes than you normally do was that part of the plan going in just with their in protection or how it how what did you think of the selection overall I thought most of them were good shots to be honest with you were make Drive making making a right play kicking out um I thought they were even more threes to be had so you mentioned the the rim protection as as a factor in the series how how did you see the presence of lively and Gafford at The Rim impact your offense um I mean I thought we could have finished a little bit more around the rim I thought we we did kick out a lot um you know I I thought you know they were big in there but I didn’t I thought we got a lot of really good looks to be honest with you um you know Luca described how significant the win was particularly given the building where they got it Minnesota was awfully good at home 30 and 11 but now in the playoffs just three and three and they face the same thing the Rangers faced in the Stanley Cup Playoffs a monstrous game at home on Friday it’s the fourth quarter it’s a back and forth Haymakers are being landed Dallas gets this Victory Luke and Kyrie right they teamed up exactly the way a Duo should ultimately the difference in the this game was what Dallas made critical defensive stops when they had to and and these were like textbook defensive possessions it wasn’t like Minnesota contributing to it they loaded up on Anthony Edwards when they had to and you even saw great rotations out of Luca great effort out of Luca came up with a couple deflections play of the game defensively was the lob he broke up to Rudy goar at the end of a great defensive possession you saw Luca backpedal and get as high as he can I think off the ground to break up that lob and then Scott on the other end you saw Luca’s greatness with shot making controlling the game and I and I had a pretty good feeling against this defense and these type of Defenders Luca was going to have a lot of success but I think this was the best I’ve seen him as a shot maker late in games in this postseason because throughout games he starts to drag a little bit with his leg he doesn’t look as fresh late in games that wasn’t the case tonight and once they got into a situation where it was a one possession game he knew the way he was going to have to win this game was going to be as a scorer and he had some big time one-on-one possessions where he got to his spot right there for instance hits the leaner in and one great great possession right there for Dallas Luca will join us here on Sports Center as well look forward to asking him about the fourth quarter and about the as soon as you said it I wrote it down and I underlined it just think of how many years have we’ve been sitting here talking and how many years have we’ve been talking about Luca and how many times have you praised his defense and now it’s a Western Conference Final and his effort and that’s the key on that end is helps the to be the difference in a victory ictory that’s a little ironic isn’t it a little teaser that’s going to be a big part of the touch screen because he had he had some hard close outs on guys to the three-point line you know expending a lot of energy when you’re carrying that burden on the other end for him to do that on the defensive end I mean that’s what it takes right and he did it tonight man he laid it on the line they were very very smart how they handled late game possessions um and I thought look Minnesota took 49 three-point shots in this game the most they’ve taken in postseason is 40 that was clearly Dallas’s strategy load up on the paint take as many threes as you want eventually you’ll cool off 7 for 24 in the second half and that was the thing at halftime you’re like they can’t possibly shoot like this that’s like I don’t care what level you’re playing you just presume they can’t stay that hot they didn’t was that was that goal tending on Carl Anthony towns that’s the closest one I’ve ever seen I honestly I’m not sure a sliver of that basketball was coming down on top of that cylinder I guess by the letter of the law that’s offensive goal tending but that’s that’s as hard as one for me to figure out on a replay as I think I’ve ever seen on a tip dunk like that that’s tough look [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]

Watch as SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt recaps Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference Finals where the Dallas Mavericks beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 108-105.

0:00 Game 1
4:44 Kyrie Irving postgame
6:09 Anthony Edwards press conference
7:18 Chris Finch press conference
8:52 Tim Legler reaction

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