No love lost between Luka Doncic, Wolves fans

Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving defeated the Timberwolves in the Western Conference finals last season they did it again Tuesday night in Minneapolis.

While Minnesota can point to 20 turnovers and woeful free throws as the main reasons why they didn’t beat the Mavericks in the rematch, the biggest moment of the night was Doncic burying a 32-foot 3-pointer with 1:04 to play. to give Dallas a 117-109 lead.

After hitting the shot, Doncic looked into the crowd and shouted something to Timberwolves fans. It hasn’t been confirmed yet, but an average lip reader can probably accurately say that he screamed, “That’s what I fucking do!”

Maybe the fans he yelled at had it coming? All’s fair in love and basketball, right?

“I’ve heard a lot of things, they really like me here,” Doncic said afterward. “Last year was fun. It’s a big moment in my career and my life, so it was nice to be here again.”

Doncic stabbed Minnesota with a step-back 3-pointer against Rudy Gobert to beat the Timberwolves at the buzzer in Game 2 of last season’s conference finals. As iconic as that shot was in the moment, the 32-footer he swung with Nickeil Alexander-Walker in his face was a more unlikely mark.

“I don’t know how I can make those shots and not normal shots,” Doncic said. “It’s just me.”

The Timberwolves look like a real contender, but Dallas clearly has their number. Finding the secret sauce to stop Doncic and Irving will be one of the biggest storylines for every West contender over the next six months.