With the all of the momentum riding in their direction and with a golden opportunity to sweep the Minnesota Timberwolves in four games to plant their spot in the NBA Finals, the Dallas Mavericks were not able to take care of business at home on Tuesday night, as they lost Game 4 of the Western Conference finals by a score of 105-100.
While the Timberwolves arguably exhibited some of the best point-of-attack defense on Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving that we've seen from them all series, Doncic and Irving also had some opportunities that they didn't take advantage of offensively.
The Timberwolves on the other end were led by Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards, as they finished with 25 points and 29 points respectively on 20-38 combine shooting from the field. This was the first game in the series where Dallas' star tandem of Irving and Doncic were out-dueled by Towns and Edwards, yet Dallas' defense remained extremely stout in this contest and they gained a wide array of contributions from different role players.
Kyrie Irving's overconfident take ages terribly for Mavericks
The Mavericks were without rookie Dereck Lively II in Game 4 which makes this close defeat more excusable, but it's unfortunate that the Mavericks couldn't make enough shots down the stretch, as they still had a prime opportunity to win this game when you take into consideration how well their defense stood up.
Kyrie Irving took accountability for Dallas' woes in his postgame press conference, as Irving was quick to cite his performance as the reason that the Mavericks lost the game when reporters asked what Irving thought of Doncic also taking accountability for the loss.
Irving's demeanor and leadership is exactly what this Mavericks team needs in moments like this, as Irving has been a calm and steadying force for this younger Mavericks roster throughout the entire season. While it can be expected that Irving will likely bounce back in Game 5 and keep his teammates' morale high, it cannot be denied that his on-court performance was one of his worser playoff games of Dallas' postseason run.
Irving finished with 16 points while shooting only 6-18 from the field and he also finished with an uncharacteristic four turnovers in the contest, as the Timberwolves' stringent defense on the perimeter did a great job at funneling Irving into tough midrange shots and attempts at the rim against Rudy Gobert.
This comes off the heels of Irving being rather confident in Dallas' chances to close the Timberwolves out in Game 4 at the AAC, as he claimed that Game 4 was the Timberwolves' version of the Super Bowl during pre-game shoot-around, also saying that it was just a normal game for the Mavericks.
While Irving was trying to maintain a calm and even-keel aroma for this Mavericks team heading into a such a highly-pressurized affair with this quote, this quote unfortunately backfired for both him and Dallas, and the quote makes it appear to casual fans as if the Mavericks don't have the proper sense of urgency to closeout this series versus Minnesota.
While Irving and the Mavericks have proven throughout these playoffs that they have what it takes to contend for a championship, they'll have to back it up with one more victory in the Western Conference Finals if they want to compete on the big stage against the Boston Celtics, as Dallas can't be preemptive in their approach to Game 5.
For more on the Dallas Mavericks and Kyrie Irving stay tuned.
