Mavs' Doncic reminds Wolves fans of West Finals with Dagger 3

MINNEAPOLIS — After his 32-foot step-back dagger ripped through the net, Luka Doncic stared into the crowd at Target Center and shouted a mundane reminder to no one in particular.

“That's what I fucking do,” Doncic roared after the shot he fired near the Minnesota Timberwolves' halfcourt logo extended the Dallas Mavericks' lead to eight points with 1:04 remaining at 120-114 -Victory on Tuesday night.

It was certainly a familiar sight. Doncic's impressive performances highlighted the Mavs' five-game victory over the Timberwolves in last season's Western Conference finals.

“We’ve seen this film before,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “He loves the opportunity to win the game. He’s not afraid and he made a big splash.”

Let's call it a sequel. The most memorable moment on the Mavs' road to the NBA Finals last spring came at the same end of the Target Center court, when Doncic danced with his dribble before hitting a step-back 3-pointer to defeat the Mavs Four-time defensive effort in Game 2 earned Player of the Year Rudy Gobert.

Doncic celebrated that shot by loudly telling Gobert that the big man couldn't protect him and throwing in a few curse words in his trash talk, though he joked afterward that he spoke Slovenian.

Doncic slammed that dagger over Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker, using the moment to respond to a fan base that expressed their hard feelings for him throughout the game.

“I've heard a lot. 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.”

According to ESPN Research, in the West final, 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 left in the fourth quarter in each of those games . The Mavs provided the Timberwolves with a painful reminder of their finishing prowess in the teams' first meeting this season.

As in the playoffs, Kyrie Irving starred alongside Doncic. This time the Wolves didn't take the lead, but Minnesota cut the Mavs' lead, which was 11 points early in the fourth quarter, to a one-possession advantage four times in the final four minutes.

The Mavs responded with a three-pointer each time: Irving's layup, an alley-oop from Doncic to PJ Washington, an Irving three-pointer off the dribble and a finger roll from Doncic after he tackled Gobert on a closeout.

The Mavs scored 21 points in the final 7:15 while Doncic and Irving combined for 16 points.

“It's just about buying time,” said Irving, who scored 25 of his team-high 35 points in the second half. “I knew we needed to create some differentiation in the game to continue to build on that confidence and it worked out well for us. But we know (Minnesota) is going to be a little different every time we play them.” At one point, they're going to make a little adjustments here and there. And later we will see them quite often.

Another similarity to last season's West final: Doncic was dealing with a sore right knee. He left with 70 seconds left in the second quarter, limping to the locker room after Minnesota's Jaden McDaniels accidentally 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 brace. He tested it in the final minutes of the half with a series of jogs, jumps, hops and defensive slides.

It wasn't until the fourth quarter, when Doncic led all scorers with 11 points, that he got going. He had a slow start to the season after missing all of training camp and the preseason due to a bruised left calf. He is shooting just 36.4% from the field and 26.8% from 3-point range for the 3-1 Mavs.

Doncic was 10 of 27 from the field 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 these shots and non-normal shots,” Doncic said. “I don't know how to do it. At the end of the day I just have to get the rust out. I'm coming back. “I haven’t played the whole preseason so I need some time.” But we got the win. Nothing else matters.