Heading into Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals, the Minnesota Timberwolves were hoping to keep their season alive, with Anthony Edwards and company looking to play off their fans at the Target Center on Thursday night in Minneapolis.
Although the Timberwolves showed a lot of fight and spirit in Game 4 in Dallas in order to extend the series for another game, Game 5 was a different story altogether, with Luka Doncic coming into Minnesota on a mission to advance to the NBA Finals for the first time in his NBA career.
Doncic absolutely torched the Timberwolves on Thursday night on the road, as he outscored Minnesota by himself in the first quarter, putting up 20 points to their 19.
Things continued to head in the wrong direction for Minnesota from there as Kyrie Irving also got going with the Timberwolves having no answer and eventually getting blown out in this elimination game.
With the Mavericks now headed back to the Finals for the first time since 2011, Doncic and company will be underdogs against the Boston Celtics, according to ESPN BET.
The Celtics are -225 to beat the Mavericks in the NBA Finals ☘️
They join the 2011 and 2013 Heat as the only east teams to be favored in the finals since the ’98 Bulls 😱 pic.twitter.com/RSiT4YH5Tc
— ESPN BET (@ESPNBet) May 31, 2024
Although the Mavericks put on a show during the Western Conference Finals, beating the Timberwolves in five games, Dallas will face another beast entirely in the Celtics, who seem determined to raise an NBA-record 18th championship banner in the rafters at TD Garden in Boston.
The Celtics may be favored to win it all right now ahead of Game 1, but that could quickly change if Doncic and his squad can continue to light up the scoreboard, as they were also underdogs heading into the Western Conference Finals, which changed drastically after a couple of games.
