Premiere Sports Betting, Sportsbook Sign Up Bonus

The Dallas Mavericks stole home-court advantage from the Minnesota Timberwolves with a Game 1 upset in the Western Conference Finals, and the Wolves now face a near must-win at home on Friday in Game 2, and they are solid favorites on the NBA odds.

Meanwhile, in the East Series the Celtics lead xxx against Pacers.

Expert Pick Timberwolves -5.5 (207.5)
What´s the Score? Timberwolves 108, Mavericks 105

Dallas Mavericks Betting Odds +143

The Mavericks took Game 1 of the West Finals, 108-105 on Wednesday to steal home-court advantage away from Minnesota. Luka Doncic was typically great with 33 points, eight assists, six rebounds and three steals in 41 minutes. Doncic saved his best for last in Game 1, shooting 5-of-8 from the field in the fourth quarter as the Mavericks erased a seven-point deficit to win. He’s scored 29 or more in each of Dallas’ last three games, surpassing the 30-point mark twice. Doncic continues to play through nagging ankle and knee injuries, and he’s only failed to crack 40 minutes once this postseason.

Fellow star Kyrie Irving had 30 points, five boards and four assists in 40 minutes. Irving missed all three 3-point attempts but shot 8-of-13 in the paint, including 5-of-7 inside the restricted area. And after consistently getting off to slow starts during Dallas’ second-round series against Oklahoma City, Irving set the tone Wednesday in shooting 11-of-14 from the field in the first half, scoring 24 of his 30 points.

Irving has had a few subpar showings in the current postseason run, but he’s scored 22 or more points in three of his last five appearances, so he seems to be peaking at the right time. This is the first conference finals for Irving since 2017 when he was playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Dereck Lively II shot 4-of-4 from the field and 1-of-1 from the foul line to finish with nine points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two blocks in 27 minutes. As has been the case on most nights since the trade deadline, Lively and starting center Daniel Gafford combined to provide solid production for the Mavericks as Gafford had 10 points and nine boards. The rookie Lively was more effective as a rebounder and shot blocker, and his ability to make plays out of the short roll is why Lively played more than Gafford.

It’s the first time in the Jason Kidd coaching era that the Mavericks have won Game 1 of any series. Yet they have come back to win four of the previous five series under Kidd.

The Mavericks weren’t shooting it great from the perimeter in Game 1 as the Minnesota defenders stuck with their shooters. But that opened up the paint, where the Mavericks outscored the bigger Wolves by a massive 62-38 margin. Dallas also outrebounded Minnesota 48-40.

Minnesota Timberwolves Betting Odds -175

Is anyone really that surprised the Timberwolves lost Game 1 Wednesday to Dallas? They were due for perhaps a letdown after that stunning rally from down 20 points in Denver on Sunday to eliminate the defending NBA champions in Game 7.

That said, the Timberwolves were ahead by four points with about 3 1/2 minutes to play and then suffered from a problem that came up often during the regular season: Offensive problems in the final minutes of a close game. After that four-point lead, Dallas scored eight straight points to take a game in which neither team led by more than nine points.

The Wolves ended up attempting 49 3s in the 108-105 loss, a big departure from the offensive identity that got them this far. Minnesota never attempted more than 40 3s in the regular season and averaged 32.7, ranking 23rd in the league. They have followed the same pattern in the playoffs; they took 40 in Game 6 against Denver but otherwise have hovered in the low 30s for most of their 11 games leading into the conference finals.

Karl-Anthony Towns (6-for-20), Anthony Edwards (6 of 16), Mike Conley (2 of 7) and Nickeil Alexander-Walker (1 of 6) combined to shoot 30.6 percent from the field. Edwards went 5 of 12 from deep, but the other three key players went 3 of 21. Edwards settling for 3s — he only took four shots that were not beyond the arc — was uncharacteristic.

Despite the Timberwolves’ size, they were manhandled in the paint as Dallas outscored them 62-38 in the lane and out-rebounded them, 48-40. “I’ve got to do a better job on the rebounds,” Rudy Gobert said. “I can’t let these guys just get offensive rebounds. I’ll be better.”

Edwards finished with 19 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists but he’s struggling from the field as Timberwolves have gone 2-2 across their last four playoff contests, and Edwards is averaging just 20.0 points per game while shooting a mere 34.7 percent from the field in that stretch. That’s a clear downgrade from a regular season in which he scored 25.9 points per contest while shooting a career-high 46.1 percent from the floor.

Jaden McDaniels led the Wolves with 24 points while adding four rebounds and three assists. McDaniels has now scored at least 20 points in three straight games — a personal-best mark — while shooting 68.6 percent from the field.

Naz Reid shot 5-of-9 from the field to finish with 15 points and Kyle Anderson added 11. Unfortunately for the Timberwolves, their bench outscoring the Mavericks reserves by a 28-14 margin didn’t mean much.

JOIN NOW