Kyrie Irving ‘Expects’ Timberwolves’ Luka Doncic Dagger To Come In – Sports Illustrated

The Dallas Mavericks ran away from Minnesota with a 120-114 win over the Timberwolves, giving them a great start to the season. For two straight nights, Luka Doncic has struggled to score in the ways Mavs fans have become accustomed to and was just 1/8 from the three-point line. What made it three, however, gave Minnesota fans deja vu.

With just over a minute left in Tuesday night’s contest and the shot clock winding down, Doncic’s 32-footer and drained to put the game out of reach instantly turned to the crowd to talk trash. Stan Van Gundy’s reaction to the shot said it all.

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Kyrie Irving, who led the team in scoring with 35 points, was asked about Doncic’s streak after the game and said everyone expected it to continue, even with his shooting struggles. “We all expected this one to come in. Those types of shots that he takes, especially late in the game, even if he’s not shooting well, you know how competitive he is. He really wants to play well, and in the fourth, every shot he made was a great shot, he figured it out in the first three quarters, but he showed up when we needed him the most.”

Doncic has struggled to shoot the ball to start the season, outside of Saturday’s game with Phoenix, and that could be due to the calf injury he suffered before training camp that forced him to miss the preseason. He’s still finding his shooting legs. He will have a good chance to get back on his feet with five games at home to go.

Even if it wasn’t the same shot, that dagger reminded fans of Doncic’s game-winning drive over Rudy Gobert in Game 2 of last year’s Western Conference Finals, giving the Mavs a commanding 2-0 series lead. Tuesday’s shot was about eight feet back and over Nikale Alexander-Walker instead of Gobert, but it had the same effect and led to the same nonsense.

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