5 Reasons the Mavericks will destroy Timberwolves in Conference Finals

The Dallas Mavericks are set to face their most daunting matchup yet, as the Minnesota Timberwolves await them in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals on Wednesday evening.

The Timberwolves are by far the most talented defensive squad that the Mavericks have faced in these playoffs, as they were able to stall out the Denver Nuggets' offense throughout large junctures of their second-round series versus Nikola Jokic and company.

The Timberwolves may be young, but they aren't scared of the moment whatsoever, as young superstar Anthony Edwards' fearless mentality has spread contagiously within their roster. The Mavericks will have to be as resilient as they've ever been in this coming series, as they can't let the referees or any other outside factor deter them from the task at hand.

5 Reasons the Mavericks will destroy Timberwolves in Conference Finals

This starts with Luka Doncic leading by example for Dallas, as his improved attitude and approach made all the difference in Dallas' last two games against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Mavericks will also need a myriad of different players to step up offensively, as the Mavericks arguably still haven't hit their full stride offensively in these playoffs despite how well their defense is playing.

With that being said though, the Mavericks still have plenty of reasons to feel opportunistic regarding their matchup versus Minnesota, as this is arguably Dallas' best chance at winning a championship since their historic 2011 NBA Finals victory.

Without further ado, here are five reasons the Dallas Mavericks will destroy the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals.

5. Timberwolves' lack of shot creation and playmaking off the bench

One of the Minnesota Timberwolves only deficiencies in these playoffs has been their lack of shot creation and playmaking throughout certain stretches, as the Timberwolves have suffered from having a lack of offense being generated from their bench at times.

This sounds ludicrous when you take into consideration that Minnesota's Naz Reid won the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year award not too long ago, but Reid is a big man who isn't tasked as a primary initiator from the perimeter on offense. Outside of the occasional good shooting and playmaking performance off the bench from Monte Morris, the Timberwolves don't have any tried and true shot-creators or bucket-getters off the bench.

This isn't to say that the Timberwolves can't supplement their lack of shot creation from the perimeter with post-scoring, 3-point shooting, and attacks off closeouts from their big men Naz Reid and Karl-Anthony Towns, but it's without doubt that the Mavericks' rim protection and size could prove troublesome for Minnesota's offense, especially if Anthony Edwards is having a rough shooting night.

The Mavericks need to continue to get strong point-of-attack defense off the bench from the likes of Josh Green, Jaden Hardy, and Tim Hardaway Jr., as Derrick Jones Jr. will have his hands full guarding Anthony Edwards, but as of right now bench production seems like an area the Mavericks will assume an advantage in.

4. Luka Doncic looked like totally a different player by the end of the Thunder series

It would be easy to pull out the phonebook of excuses as to why Luka Doncic hasn't had as dominant of a playoffs as he would've hoped for, as the 25-year-old Slovenian superstar has dealt with an illness, sprained knee, and multiple other minor injuries since the playoffs began. This has clearly been something that has irritated Doncic both physically as well as mentally, as Doncic hasn't looked like he's having nearly as much fun on the court in these playoffs, oftentimes laboring through pain up and down the court or complaining to referees in regard to a missed call.

Doncic has still been putting up gaudy stats in the playoffs despite all of this though, as his presence alone almost guarantees a triple-double. It has been evident that Doncic has been far less efficient this postseason from a shooting perspective though, and his frustration has led to some untimely and uncharacteristic turnovers throughout both of Dallas' series versus the Oklahoma City Thunder and LA Clippers.

Doncic is burdening a heavy workload through all of this as well, as he averaged well over 40 minutes played per game in both of Dallas' playoff series thus far. However, in Dallas' last two games against the Thunder in the Conference Semifinals, it was clear that Doncic not only found his groove shooting the ball, but he looked drastically improved in terms of his attitude and mentality on the court.

Doncic's last two games against the Thunder was more emblematic of the MVP-caliber player that we saw during the regular season, as he was pushing the pace of the Mavericks' offense and was extremely persistent about getting to his spots on all three levels. Doncic also looked like he was enjoying the game more, likely putting less mental constraint on himself to perform well through injury.

Doncic rekindling his level of play that we saw from him during the regular season should be a scary sight for Timberwolves fans, as he may just be starting to hit his stride in these playoffs as Dallas is on the precipice of the NBA Finals. However, it's unknown whether Doncic can sustain this level of mental fortitude and concentration, as the status of some of his minor injuries don't be appearing to heal soon enough.

Doncic's level of play could easily make or break how good of chance the Mavericks have at advancing to the NBA Finals, but it's almost certain that Minnesota is in for a long series if Doncic performs at the level that we know he's capable of when he's fully healthy.

3. Kyrie Irving is due for a big series

One thing in common that the Oklahoma City Thunder have with the Minnesota Timberwolves is that both squads feature some of the best arrays of point-of-attack defenders in the league. This won't make life any easier for Mavericks' guard Kyrie Irving once Dallas faces off against Minnesota, as Irving will be trapped and played physically by Minnesota's defense (subscription required) possibly even more than he was against OKC.

However, there is cause for optimism for Mavericks fans who are hoping that Irving will have a more efficient shooting series against Minnesota, as the 32-year-old veteran averaged the second lowest amount of points per game in his career in a given playoff series with 15.7 as well as nearly three turnovers per game in Dallas' series against OKC.

The Thunder's defense certainly affected Irving with their length and physicality on the perimeter, but Irving also had some uncharacteristic turnovers as well as some missed opportunities to attack and get to his spots oftentimes earlier on in the series versus OKC. With the Thunder having the luxury to focus less on Doncic with his inefficient play earlier on in the series, Irving faced perhaps the most defensive attention out of any Mavericks' player in their second round series versus the Thunder

Irving cleaned up some of the uncharacteristic mistakes he made earlier in the series toward the ladder half of Dallas' series versus OKC, and he still played great defense and was a stellar playmaker throughout the series. Minnesota will throw the kitchen sink at Irving, but it's unlikely that he shoots as inefficient or has near as many turnovers in this coming series. While it's not guaranteed given how wiry Minnesota's defense, Irving could be due for a big series from a shooting perspective after a rougher performance versus the Thunder, as players of his caliber can only be contained for so long.

2. Mavericks have the most size Timberwolves have faced in the playoffs thus far

Make no mistake about it, the Denver Nuggets have an abundance of size in their rotation, so the Minnesota Timberwolves were certainly given a far more challenging task from a size perspective in their second-round series compared to their first-round matchup versus the Phoenix Suns. The Timberwolves are arguably one of the biggest teams in the league, as they have 7-foot-1 Rudy Gobert manning the middle to go in tandem with a flurry of long wings and hybrid big men such as Jaden McDaniels, Karl-Anthony Towns, Naz Reid, and Kyle Anderson.

The Timberwolves' size has aided their defense and rebounding tremendously, but the Mavericks are the biggest opponents that they will have faced yet, especially if the Mavericks can regain Maxi Kleber at any point in this coming series. The Timberwolves faced a tall task having to guard the likes of 7-foot Nikola Jokic with Denver's larger dynamic wings in Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon, but the Nuggets didn't have a reliable backup big-man in their playoff rotation nor have as deep of a rotation of rangy and athletic wings as the Mavericks do.

The Timberwolves have the tallest average height out of any team remaining in the playoffs barring the Boston Celtics, with 6-foot-7 being their average height across the board. Dallas isn't going to gain some huge size advantage over the Timberwolves, but Dallas clearly has the most size, length, and strength out of anyone the Timberwolves have faced in these playoffs.

This gives the Mavericks the ability to beat the Timberwolves from a rebounding and defensive standpoint, as the Mavericks have been far more tailor-made to play bigger lineups compared to what the Timberwolves are used to. Dallas' best player in Luka Doncic is also a stocky 6-foot-7, so he won't get pushed around at the point-of-attack on the offensive side near as much as Jamal Murray did in Denver's series versus Minnesota.

As aforementioned, the Mavericks aren't going to have a size advantage for the remainder of the playoffs. However, after acquiring both Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington to help fortify Dallas' backline during the trade deadline. And as we've seen during these playoffs, the Mavericks have enough size to beat anyone in the league so long as their effort on defense is present and they are somewhat clicking offensively.

1. Mavericks' defense is peaking at the right time

While it seemed outlandish to label the Dallas Mavericks as one of the best defensive teams in the NBA just a few months ago, the Mavericks have solidified themselves as one of the best defensive teams in the entire NBA throughout the course of these playoffs. Dallas has held the likes of the LA Clippers and OKC Thunder to less than 100 points on four separate occasions in these playoffs, as the Mavericks have played their most connected brand of defense that they've played all season throughout these last two playoff rounds.

The Mavericks have been extremely crisp on their defensive rotations within these playoffs barring a few instances in the first round where they struggled to guard James Harden in the pick-and-roll. The Mavericks' effort in terms of their one-on-one defense has been excellent across the board as well, as the Mavericks have made life tough for the likes of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Paul George, and the aforementioned Harden just to name a few of the difficult matchups that they've been presented with in these playoffs.

The Mavericks have guarded nearly every type of lineup thrown at them well in the playoffs as well as the weeks leading up to them, as they most recently challenged with the Thunder's ability to play five-out offensively. Even with one of their best-defending big men on the perimeter in Maxi Kleber missing the series due to injury, Dallas proved that their defensive rotations were quick enough to recover at the back line and rookie center Dereck Lively II held up well when switched onto the Thunder's perimeter players.

The Mavericks will be challenged to a whole other level defensively with the amount of size that Minnesota can throw at them with some of the Timberwolves' offensive actions, so the Mavericks will need to be extremely attentive to Minnesota's off-ball movement given the Timberwolves' size and length advantage over the Mavericks.

However, this Mavericks team is as well equipped to deal with the Timberwolves' offensive attack as any team in the league is, especially if Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving continue to play stout defense behind Dallas' backbone defensively of P.J. Washington, Derrick Jones Jr., Daniel Gafford, and Lively II.

For more on the Dallas Mavericks during their Western Conference Finals matchup versus the Minnesota Timberwolves, stay tuned as we will have you covered.