Game 5 recap: Timberwolves fall apart as season ends with 124-103 loss to Mavericks

The Timberwolves season is over after a disappointing loss to the Mavericks. Staff writer Chris Hine provided this live report:

For Game 5 statistics click here.

Even when the Timberwolves were down 3-0 to the Mavericks, Anthony Edwards was in the team’s locker room in Dallas saying he still felt like the Wolves were the better team.

What happened Thursday night ended any idea of that being true, as the Mavericks made quick and lethal work of the Wolves and ended their season with a 124-103 win to clinch the Western Conference finals 4-1.

The Wolves experienced all kinds of heartbreak in this series; Dallas star Luka Doncic quickly ripped it apart in Game 2 with a game-winning three-pointer. On Thursday, Doncic and company stomped it into oblivion from the opening minutes when he began the game with 20 first-quarter points.

A playoff ride that featured plenty of highs — sweeping Phoenix and a Game 7 comeback against the defending champion Nuggets — deserved a better ending than what the Wolves gave in Game 5. But any time an exciting ride ends, there’s inevitable letdown after the adrenaline rush drips out.

The Wolves made their bed to make Game 5 possible earlier in the series, when they couldn’t win one of the first two games at home. Their biggest regret of the postseason will be how they performed in front of their home crowd. They were just 3-5 at Target Center in the postseason. They shot just 43% while Dallas shot 55%.

The Mavericks did to the Wolves what the Wolves did to the Nuggets in Game 6 in the only Wolves home win of the final two rounds — completely took the life out of them.

Doncic set that tone from the start by hitting his first five shots of the night while the Wolves were hitting the side of the rim. A Wolves defense that had suffocated most team in the league could never figure out how to shut down Doncic and running mate Kyrie Irving.

He finished with 36 points and told the Wolves crowd to enjoy watching the NBA finals before checking out while Irving also had 36. The duo outplayed the Wolves’ top two offensive options, Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards for most of the series.

The Dallas defense also exposed flaws in the Wolves’ offense, as it confused Edwards and prevented him from getting the offense jump started most of the series. This can happen this deep in the postseason when a 22-year-old is tasked with as much responsibility as Edwards has for the Wolves, even for as talented as he is.

Edwards and Towns both finished with 28 points. Their nights weren’t as bad Thursday as the first three games, but they got almost no help from their supporting cast. Jaden McDaniels played just 21 minutes as he dealt with foul trouble guarding Doncic. The Wolves’ four bench players combined to shoot just 5-for-24 before garbage time, 2-for-14 through three quarters.

Closeout games can have weird energy, and this one had it in bunches, as everything spiraled in a negative way for the Wolves, who were down by as much as 36 in the third quarter.

Read Chris Hine’s final report from the game.

The Wolves are 12 minutes from their season ending, as they trail the Mavericks 97-73 entering the fourth quarter.

The Wolves fell behind as much as 36 early in the quarter as they started firing away from three-point range in a last-ditch effort to get back in it.

Barring a comeback like they had in Game 7 against the Nuggets, their season will be over.

Karl-Anthony Towns led the Wolves with 14 points in the quarter while Anthony Edwards had nine. But they couldn’t stop Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic, who combined for another 18 points to prevent the Wolves from making things truly interesting.

The Timberwolves offense hasn’t had many answers for a tough Dallas defense most of this series, and when their defense is allowing the Mavericks to shoot 61%, it’s a recipe for trouble.

That’s where the Wolves found themselves as they trail Dallas 69-40 at halftime.

Nothing went right in the first half for the Wolves, who shot 35%.

The Wolves found themselves in a deep hole facing elimination against the Nuggets, but that series had moments in which the Wolves dominated stretches of play. This series hasn’t had that for them.

Their offense could not get unglued and had no flow. The defense had no answer for Luka Doncic (25 points) in the first quarter and then Kyrie Irving in the second (19 points).

It all led to some frustrated fans raining down a few boos at the half. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards led the Wolves with 12 points as they have gotten almost nothing out of their bench and Jaden McDaniels played just six minutes because of foul trouble.

The Wolves bench was a combined 1-for-11. Naz Reid committed a flagrant foul-one on Dereck Lively after hitting him in the head on one possession. Lively, who entered the game questionable because of a neck injury, was able to stay in the game.

The Wolves are 2-for-12 on three-pointers while Dallas is 9-for-15.

The Wolves couldn’t defense Mavericks point guard Luka Doncic in the first quarter. The All-NBA first team player had 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting, including four three-pointers, as Dallas took a 35-19 lead.

One of Doncic’s threes was a 32-footer.

Thanks to their work on the offensive glass, the Wolves kept pace with Dallas to start and were within 16-15 after a Mike Conley three. But Dallas closed the quarter 19-4 from that point.

Rudy Gobert led the Wolves in shot attempts with seven and had seven points while Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards both went 2-for-5.

The Wolves had issues hanging onto the ball and had five first-quarter turnovers while shooting 31%. Dallas was 14-for-23 (61%).

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch was as vocal as he has been all playoffs with the officiating in Game 4 on Tuesday night, when he picked up a technical.

He continued to harp on the officiating even during his pregame press conference before Game 5.

When asked why he had Anthony Edwards guarding Luka Doncic to start Game 4, Finch came ready with an answer.

“He does a better job of getting through all those illegal screens they set for Luka,” Finch said. “Jaden [McDaniels] is getting cracked a lot. Jaden has traditionally been really good on Luka with his length, but he’s been cracked by a bunch of screens out there.”

Finch said the Mavericks “move at the last moment” and they can bump Wolves players with their shoulders to make the screens difficult to get through.

Finch said he upped his intensity with officials in Game 4 because he wanted officials to respect the Wolves more.

“I just don’t feel like we were getting enough respect. Micah has done a great job and they’re very conversational with him, but then you get to let them know you’re there, and I just didn’t feel that all series we had been getting enough respect. I wanted to make sure that we were heard.”

The big question injury-wise headed into Game 5 is whether Dallas center Dereck Lively II would be available after suffering a neck strain in Game 3. Coach Jason Kidd said Lively remained questionable.

Lively was warming up before the game on the arena floor, and he will be active for the game.