Timberwolves and Dallas face off in Western Conference playoffs

The Timberwolves and Dallas play tonight in Dallas, with the Mavericks leading the best-of-7 series 2-0. Staff writer Chris Hine reports live from American Airlines Arena:

Match 3 Stats and Play-by-Play

9:01 p.m.: Game tied after three quarters as Edwards leads the comeback

Anthony Edwards vowed to be aggressive heading into game three, and he found his aggressiveness in the third quarter as he brought the Wolves back into the game with 10 points in the third quarter and the teams were tied 87-87 heading into the fourth.

With the Wolves losing 76-77, Edwards scored eight of Minnesota’s next 11 points, including a thunderous dunk down the line that sent shockwaves through the Dallas crowd. The dunk seemed to energize Edwards, who then hit his next two jumpers and stepped up his defensive intensity by forcing a turnover from Derrick Jones Jr. He then signaled the bench to take a timeout at the 4:10 mark.

The Wolves took their first lead since 5-3 when Naz Reid hit a layup to give them a 79-77 lead.

The Wolves couldn’t stop sending Dallas to the free throw line in the third. The Mavericks were in the penalty box at 8:36 of the quarter and Mike Conley went to the bench with four fouls. Dallas was 14 of 17 from the free throw line in the third quarter. Luka Doncic was at 26 at the end of the third, 8 of 10 from the free throw line.

The Wolves’ Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert also start the fourth quarter with four fouls each.

Minnesota was hitting shots to open the half as they took advantage of Dereck Lively’s absence (Lively was officially ruled out with a sprained neck). Jones, Dallas’ go-to perimeter defender, also left the game briefly after absorbing an illegal screen from Nickeil Alexander-Walker.

8:09 p.m.: Wolves trail at halftime, but Mavs lose key player

Karl-Anthony Towns missed his first seven shots of the night and went 2 of 10 in the first half as the Wolves trailed Dallas 60-52 at halftime. Towns missed all five of his three-pointers.

But Dallas suffered a significant injury to its front line when Derek Lively left the game with a neck injury with 8 minutes, 35 seconds left in the second.

As Lively fell to the ground to rebound, her head collided with Towns’ knee, snapping her neck forward. Lively remained on the ground for several moments during a timeout and needed help to get up as he struggled to maintain his balance. He came out with six points on 3-for-3 shooting with three rebounds and won’t return.

Lively was 13-for-13 on the show before leaving; earlier in the game, he took a knee from Towns to the groin as the Wolves big man drove to the rim.

The Mavs’ Luka Doncic and Rudy Gobert exchanged pleasantries later in the quarter on back-to-back plays after tangling on a rebound and around a screen. Doncic had some words for Gobert after hitting the game-winning three against him in Game 2. Both teams had unsuccessful challenges in the first half.

Edwards and Jaden McDaniels had 12 points to lead the Wolves.

Dallas shot 54% for the half as Doncic led them with 15.

7:33 p.m.: Wolf trail after one, Conley visits the locker room

Before Game 3 on Sunday, Wolves coach Chris Finch said the message to Karl-Anthony Towns was to play slower while he wanted Anthony Edwards to play faster.

Edwards had nine points in the first quarter, but Towns couldn’t get on track as the Wolves trailed Dallas 33-28 after one.

Wolves point guard Mike Conley went to the locker room during the quarter; he played despite a calf injury. He was back shortly after.

Edwards was 3 of 6 from the field while Towns was 0 of 3 in the quarter. Luka Doncic had eight points early in the game for Dallas.

Dallas came out strong in its home arena as the Mavericks hit their first three threes of the night and Edwards got off to a rough start with a turnover, a brick and one of two free throws after a drive.

Edwards made his next two shots and the Wolves got three shots from Conley and Jaden McDaniels and pulled within 15-13 during a timeout with 6:01 to play.

The Wolves got seven points in the first quarter from McDaniels finding success with his mid-range jumper from about 10 feet, but the Wolves defense had little answer to the Mavericks offense, which shot 11 out of 19.

6:36 p.m. The alert is approaching

Dallas’ starters are point guard Luka Doncic (playoff stats: 28.0 points, 9.4 rebounds, 9.3 assists), shooting guard Kyrie Irving (21.6 points, 5.4 assists), small forward Derrick Jones (10.1 points), power forward PJ Washington (13.9 points). and center Daniel Gafford (9.2 points, 5.7 rebounds). Center Derek Lively averages 8.7 points coming off the bench.

For the Wolves, they are point guard Mike Conley (11.4 points, 6.1 assists), shooter Anthony Edwards (27.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 6.2 assists), small forward Jaden McDaniels (12.5 points), forward Karl-Anthony Towns (18.3 points). , 8.9 rebounds) and center Rudy Gobert (12.5 points, 10.5 rebounds). Naz Reid averages 11.7 points coming off the bench.

The referees are Tony Brothers (team manager), Ben Taylor and Curtis Blair. The last time they played the Wolves was Game 3 of the Denver series, which the Wolves lost at home.

The match is televised on TNT, with a prediction schedule at 7 p.m.

Morning Shoot Recap: Anthony Edwards Says He’ll Be Ultra Aggressive

One of Anthony Edwards’ defining characteristics on and off the field is the infectious joy with which he approaches every aspect of his life. You will rarely find Edwards in a bad mood, regardless of the circumstances.

But Edwards said after the first two games of the Western Conference Finals, he lost some of the joy of playing basketball because he struggled to score.

“I probably avoided having fun out there,” Edwards said during shootaround before Game 3. “I’m just letting my misses and stuff get to me. I just gotta start having fun again , playing with joy, with a smile on my face.

Edwards is 11 for 33 in this series so far and vowed he would be more aggressive, attack the basket more and take more shots in Game 3 than he did has done so far.

“You’re going to see tonight. There’s going to be a lot of shooting,” Edwards said. “…I’m going to be super aggressive. I haven’t taken more than 16 shots in every game. So I’m going to be ultra aggressive coming out, that’s for sure.”

Edwards said the atmosphere around the team was still positive and optimistic despite the Wolves losing two games at home that they could have won.

“Everyone is in a good mood, especially me,” Edwards said. “We lost two games. We gave them two games. We’re pretty confident.”