The Minnesota Timberwolves stand in the way of the Mavericks’ first trip to the NBA Finals since their championship season in 2010-11.
The Wolves have never reached The Finals before, but they’ve transformed into a worthy championship contender thanks to the emergence of two-way superstar guard Anthony Edwards and a potent defense that ranked first in the NBA throughout the regular season.
The fifth-seeded Mavericks appear to be underdogs once again, as Minnesota enters as the No. 3 seed, but Dallas has the experience edge over Minnesota. Dallas has been to the conference finals six times in franchise history, including twice in the Luka Doncic era. This is Minnesota’s second appearance in the NBA’s Final Four.
Dallas will be the more rested team with three days between its series-clinching win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Timberwolves just escaped from a grueling seven-game series with the defending champion Denver Nuggets.
So who has the advantage? Here’s an early scouting report of the series, which also includes a look at the four-game regular season series that fell in Minnesota’s favor:
Previous meetings
The Mavericks and Wolves have grown quite familiar with each other due to six meetings this year — twice in the preseason and four times in the regular season. Minnesota emerged as the victor in five of those six contests.
Conclusions from the regular season meetings should be taken with a grain of salt due to several factors that may have influenced the final result.
Dec. 14: Timberwolves 119, Mavericks 101
With Kyrie Irving out of the lineup, Luka Doncic and the Mavericks weren’t able to keep pace with the Timberwolves. Doncic scored 39 points to go with 13 assists, six rebounds and two steals. While Anthony Edwards struggled with nine points on 3-for-19 shooting, Dallas had no answer for Karl-Anthony Towns and Naz Reid. Towns and Reid combined to score 48 points on 16-for-28 shooting.
Dec. 28: Timberwolves 118, Mavericks 110
Playing without Doncic and Irving, the Mavericks were competitive, but didn’t have enough offensive firepower. Tim Hardaway Jr. led the way with 32 points off the bench. After struggling in their first matchup, Edwards had 44 points on 12-for-23 shooting.
Jan. 7: Mavericks 115, Timberwolves 108
In their only matchup together against the Timberwolves, Doncic and Irving combined for 69 points to lead the Mavericks to the win. Edwards had a 36-point, 10-rebound double-double to lead the Timberwolves.
Jan. 31: Timberwolves 121, Mavericks 87
The depleted Mavericks without Doncic and Irving kept the game close in the first half before Minnesota pulled away for the blowout win. Towns scored 29 points on 11-for-15 shooting to go with nine rebounds and four assists. Josh Green led the Mavs with 18 points.
Personnel
By now, the NBA world is probably well-acquainted with Minnesota’s star duo of Edwards and Towns. What else can Mavericks fans expect from the Timberwolves’ defensive-minded roster?
Other names to monitor include Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid. The big men have been a key part of Minnesota’s postseason success, seeing Gobert anchor one of the league’s top defenses. Both Gobert and Reid were recognized this year for their efforts, with Gobert earning the Defensive Player of the Year award and Reid being named Sixth Man of the Year.
According to The Dallas Morning News’ Tim Cowlishaw, Gobert and Reid may not cause a ton of difficulty for the Mavs’ Doncic and Irving tandem. Jalen McDaniels, however, could be an intriguing matchup for Doncic and P.J. Washington. (Reminder that Edwards will be guarding Irving this series.)
From Cowlishaw: “After barely scoring 40 per game in the second round, expect Luka and Kyrie to get back over 50 in this one. I don’t pretend that that will solve all of Dallas’ issues with Minnesota. In Game 7, [Nikola] Jokic and Jamal Murray scored 69 points but the rest of the Nuggets managed only 21 in defeat. Dallas is deeper than Denver, and what Dereck Lively II is able to do against Minnesota’s bigs will be intriguing to watch. Surely he won’t have the freedom to attack the offensive glass that he had against the undersized Thunder, but the penetration of Luka and Kyrie frees up Lively and Daniel Gafford for the explosive dunks that tend to ignite the AAC crowds as much as the long ball does.”
Who has the edge?
While this series features plenty of young talent on both sides, one aspect could be an advantage for Dallas: Championship experience.
Irving is one of two regular starters left in both conference finals with a ring. He was key in Cleveland’s 2016 title win over the Golden State Warriors. The only other player with such experience is Boston’s Jrue Holiday, who won with the Bucks in 2021.
The Mavericks also seem to have an edge in coaching experience, with Jason Kidd leading his second WCF run as the team’s leader. He has also been part of half of the franchise’s six conference finals. On the other hand, this is Minnesota coach Chris Finch’s first time reaching this stage.
More from Cowlishaw: “Getting to that first NBA Finals is hard. It took the Mavericks a quarter of a century before they finally made it in 2006, eventually winning it all in 2011. Minnesota, which has never reached the Finals in 34 seasons, has removed many of its doubters and won some advocates with its play against Denver. That doesn’t mean the Mavericks, with their two elite scorers outside, don’t pose a more credible challenge.”
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