Doncic's 36 points spur Mavericks to NBA Finals with 124-103 toppling of Timberwolves in Game 5

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Luka Doncic was in his element, hitting shots from everywhere on the court, hushing the crowd and flashing those sly smiles as the Dallas Mavericks delivered a knockout performance.

Now one of the global sport's young superstars gets his first trip to the NBA Finals.

Doncic had a 20-point first quarter on his way to 36 points for his high this postseason, and the Mavericks beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 124-103 on Thursday night to breeze through the Western Conference finals in five games.

“He let his teammates know that it’s time and they’ve got to take it up a notch,” coach Jason Kidd said. “He sent the invites out, and they all came.”

Kyrie Irving also scored 36 points for the Mavericks, who built a 29-point halftime lead on 61% shooting to deflate the once-energized crowd before most fans got up for their first snack break. The Mavs went up by 36 in the third quarter, consistently keeping the Timberwolves offense all out of whack.

“I just had that utmost confidence when I was going to sleep last night and went to shootaround this morning," Irving said, “just feeling like we were going to play one of our best games.”

The Mavs, the No. 5 seed in the West, 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 championship in 2011 when Kidd was playing for them. The Celtics will have had 10 days between games after sweeping Indiana in the Eastern Conference finals.

Anthony Edwards scored 28 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 points and 12 rebounds for the third-seeded Wolves, who met their match with the defense-smashing duo of Doncic and Irving after stifling Phoenix in a first-round sweep and then dethroning defending champion Denver in a seven-game series.

“We never clicked all together as a team in this series, not even one game,” Edwards said. “The last two series, we were all clicking at one time, making shots and stuff. It wasn’t clicking at one time here.”

Irving improved to 15-1 in his career in closeout games in the playoffs.

Doncic set a defiant tone by starting 4 for 4, hitting rainbows from 28 and 31 feet as he turned to talk trash to the courtside fans with each swish.

“That gets me going," Doncic said. "Everybody knows that by now.”

He drained a 32-footer later in a first quarter as the Mavs closed on a 17-1 spurt, a run they pushed to 28-5 over a nine-minute stretch.

“I thought I set a good-enough screen, and I turned around and he's shooting from half court,” center Daniel Gafford said.

This 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. He was voted the MVP of the series.

Doncic, who shot 14 for 22 and grabbed 10 rebounds, and his savvy sidekick Irving, who has a championship ring from 2016 with Cleveland, were the superior stars in the series as this Wolves team found its first taste of a sustained postseason run to be a bitter — but perhaps ultimately beneficial — one.

“You can’t skip any steps. The West is going to be a monster next year as it continues to be every year. There was a lot of things we did well this year,” Wolvers coach Chris Finch said. “I’m super proud of our guys. Just building another layer of foundation to try to get where we want to go.”

Though he familiarly and persistently waved his arms at the officials almost every time a whistle didn’t go his way, the 25-year-old Doncic played with an unshakeable confidence and unflappable joy from start to finish. As he was taunted by the fans with a “Flopper!” chant when he shot free throws in the third quarter, Doncic smiled and mockingly mouthed the words along with them.

The Mavs got 7-foot-1 rookie Dereck Lively II back from the sprained neck that kept him out of the previous game, restoring the complete rim protection duo with Gafford that helped them disrupt Rudy Gobert in the post and just about everyone else who tried to attack the basket. Gafford had 11 points and nine rebounds, and Lively added nine points and eight rebounds.

Edwards, though he hit the 25-point mark for the 15th time in 27 career playoff games, had trouble finding his rhythm amid all the double-teams. The Wolves, for all their progress this season, were reminded they don’t yet have a championship offense despite his dynamic skills and clutch mentality.

They had several wince-inducing possessions in the decisive first half, with the coaches struggling to find a group that could play in sync together.

As the final seconds of the second quarter ticked away, Edwards drove to the lane and kicked the ball to the corner to Kyle Anderson, who swung it back to Towns on the wing and failed to find a look he liked. He passed back to Anderson, who tried to move closer and had the shot clock expire on him.

P.J. Washington, who had 12 points, flexed his arms in celebration of yet another stifling defensive sequence by the Mavs.

“They won the series. They earned the series. They deserve the series. Congrats to them and their entire staff. They were led by two world-class players that played at a world-class level,” Finch said.

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Dallas Mavericks center Daniel Gafford (21) celebrates a Minnesota Timberwolves shot clock violation as Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kyle Anderson (1) pauses on the court during the first half of Game 5 of the Western Conference finals in the NBA basketball playoffs, Thursday, May 30, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns walks off the court after Game 5 of the team's NBA basketball Western Conference finals against the Dallas Mavericks, Thursday, May 30, 2024, in Minneapolis. Dallas won 124-103, advancing to the NBA Finals. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic smiles during a news conference after the team's win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 5 of the NBA basketball Western Conference finals Thursday, May 30, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic, center, holds the MVP trophy as he is surrounded by teammates as announcer Ernie Johnson Jr., left, interviews Doncic after Game 5 of the Western Conference finals in the NBA basketball playoffs against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Thursday, May 30, 2024, in Minneapolis. The Mavericks won 124-103, taking the series 4-1 and moving on to the NBA Finals. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic, center, celebrates with teammates after Game 5 of the Western Conference finals in the NBA basketball playoffs against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Thursday, May 30, 2024, in Minneapolis. The Mavericks won 124-103, taking the series 4-1 and moving on to the NBA Finals. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) shoots over Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) during the first half of Game 5 of the Western Conference finals in the NBA basketball playoffs, Thursday, May 30, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Dallas Mavericks center Dereck Lively II (2) slaps hands with Mavericks guard Luka Doncic, second from left, after Doncic's score against the Minnesota Timberwolves during the first half of Game 5 of the Western Conference finals in the NBA basketball playoffs, Thursday, May 30, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) shoots a 3-pointer over Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) during the first half of Game 5 of the Western Conference finals in the NBA basketball playoffs, Thursday, May 30, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic celebrates his made 3-pointer against the Minnesota Timberwolves during the first half of Game 5 of the Western Conference finals in the NBA basketball playoffs, Thursday, May 30, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) celebrates his score as Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, left, looks on during the first half of Game 5 of the Western Conference finals in the NBA basketball playoffs, Thursday, May 30, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

HONG KONG (AP) — Asian shares were mostly lower Friday as markets awaited U.S. personal spending data for November that are due later in the day.

U.S. futures and oil prices fell.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index dropped 0.3% to 38,701.90 after the release of November inflation data on Friday. Japan's core inflation rate, which excludes fresh food prices, rose 2.7% year-on-year, surpassing expectations.

The data followed the Bank of Japan's decision on Thursday to keep its benchmark rate at 0.25%, which pushed the dollar higher against the Japanese yen.

The dollar was trading at 156.96 yen by midday Friday, down from 157.43 yen but still higher than the average of 150 yen earlier this month.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 0.1% to 19,772.91 while the Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1% lower to 3,367.20 after China’s central bank kept its loan prime rates unchanged on Friday. The one-year lending rate, which affects corporate and most household loans, remained at 3.1%, while the five-year rate, used as a benchmark for mortgage rates, stayed at 3.6%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 1.2% to 8,067.00. South Korea’s Kospi lost 1.3% to 2,404.02.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 edged 0.1% lower to 5,867.08. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose less than 0.1% to 42,342.24 following Wednesday’s drop of 1,123 points, while the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.1% to 19,372.77.

This week’s struggles have taken some of the enthusiasm out of the market, which critics had been warning was overly buoyant and would need everything to go correctly for it to justify its high prices. But indexes remain near their records, and the S&P 500 is still on track for one of its best years of the millennium with a gain of 23%.

Traders are now expecting the Federal Reserve to deliver just one or maybe two cuts to interest rates next year, according to data from CME Group. Some are even betting on none. A month ago, the majority saw at least two cuts in 2025 as a safe bet.

Wall Street loves lower interest rates because they give the economy a boost and goose prices for investments, but they can also provide fuel for inflation.

Treasury yields were mixed a day after shooting higher on expectations that the Fed would deliver fewer cuts to rates in 2025. Reports on the U.S. economy came in mixed.

One showed the overall economy grew at a 3.1% annualized rate during the summer, faster than earlier thought. The economy has remained remarkably resilient even though the Fed held its main interest rate at a two-decade high for a while before beginning to cut them in September.

A separate report showed fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, an indication that the job market also remains solid. But a third report said manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region is unexpectedly contracting again despite economists’ expectations for growth.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.57% from 4.52% late Wednesday and from less than 4.20% earlier this month.

But the two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for action by the Fed in the near term, eased back to 4.31% from 4.35%.

In other dealings, U.S. benchmark crude oil gave up 35 cents to $69.03 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 38 cents to $72.50 per barrel.

The euro rose to $1.0378 from $1.0367.

People walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)