Luka Dončić scored 20 of his 36 points in the first quarter and Kyrie Irving also scored 36 as the Dallas Mavericks booked a trip to the NBA Finals with a 124-103 rout of the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night. (More Sports News)
Dallas was never threatened in Game 5 as it built a 29-point halftime lead on 61 percent shooting and led by as many as 36 points in the third quarter.
The Mavericks will have a full week to rest before the NBA Finals begin in Boston on June 6 for the franchise’s first appearance since winning the title in 2011. The Celtics have been off since finishing a sweep of Indiana on Monday.
Irving improved to 15-1 in his career in closeout games in the playoffs.
Anthony Edwards scored 28 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 with 12 rebounds for the Wolves, who were unable to build on Tuesday’s Game 4 win in Dallas.
Doncic hit his first four shots and drained a 32-footer later in the first quarter. The Mavs closed on a 17-1 spurt, a run they pushed to 28-5 over a nine-minute stretch.
It was Doncic’s second 20-point quarter in his postseason career, following a 21-point fourth quarter in the Western Conference finals loss to Golden State in 2022.
Dallas got backup center Dereck Lively II back from a sprained neck that sidelined him the previous game. He had nine points and eight rebounds and Daniel Gafford added 11 points and nine boards.
