Tue, May 28th, 2024 - 6:37am
May 21, 2024 - 9:11am | By James McCarty
The 2024 Western Conference Finals is set to begin. The No. 3 seeded Minnesota Timberwolves will be battling the No. 5 seeded Dallas Mavericks with a trip to the NBA Finals on the line.
The Wolves have home court advantage in the series, potentially hosting four games in the best-of-7 series. Minnesota is making its first conference finals appearance since 2004, while Dallas last appeared on this stage in 2022.
Minnesota and Dallas squared off four times in the 2023-24 regular season with the Pack taking three of the matchups. They haven’t played since before the trade deadline and since their last meeting Dallas acquired a pair of starters in their frontcourt in P.J. Washington (Charlotte) and Daniel Gafford (Washington). The four regular season meetings went as listed:
- 12/14 Minnesota 119-101
- 12/28 Minnesota 118-110
- 1/7 Dallas 115-108
- 1/31 Minnesota 121-87
In their four head-to-head matchups in the regular season, the statsheet was stuffed by the team leaders:
Minnesota leaders vs Dallas per game:
- Anthony Edwards: 25.5 points, 5.8 assists, 5.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals
- Karl-Anthony Towns: 21.0 points, 10.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists
- Naz Reid: 15.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists
- Rudy Gobert: 13.5 points, 11.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.5 blocks
- Mike Conley: 10.8 points, 4.8 assists, 2.3 rebounds
Dallas leaders vs Minnesota per game:
- Luka Doncic: 36.5 points, 10.5 assists, 6.0 rebounds, 1.5 steals
- Kyrie Irving: 35.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 3.0 steals, 2.0 blocks
- Tim Hardaway Jr.: 17.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.0 steals
- Dante Exum: 12.5 points, 5.0 assists, 3.0 rebounds
- Derrick Jones Jr.: 10.0 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.0 steals, 1.3 blocks
This postseason the Wolves have six players averaging double digit points per game while the Mavericks only have four. When it comes to rebounding only one player is averaging double figures, even though both teams are averaging about 44 rebounds per game each.
Minnesota Playoff Leaders:
Points
Anthony Edwards (28.9), Karl-Anthony Towns (18.8), Jaden McDaniels (12.4), Rudy Gobert ( 12.2), Mike Conley (11.3), Naz Reid (10.4)
Rebounds
Rudy Gobert (10.9), Karl-Anthony Towns (9.3), Anthony Edwards (6.2), Jaden McDaniels (4.5), Mike Conley (4.2)
Assists
Mike Conley (6.5), Anthony Edwards (5.9), Karl-Anthony Towns (2.8), Nickeil Alexander-Walker (2.6), Kyle Anderson (2.1)
Dallas Playoff Leaders:
Points
Luka Doncic (27.3), Kyrie Irving (21.1), P.J. Washington (14.3), Derrick Jones Jr. (10.8)
Rebounds
Luka Doncic (9.7), Derek Lively II (7.0), P.J. Washington (6.8), Daniel Gafford (5.5), Kyrie Irving (4.0)
Assists
Luka Doncic (9.1), Kyrie Irving (5.4)
Shooting percentage:
2-point percentage
- Minnesota 54.6 %
- Dallas 52.6 %
3-point percentage
- Minnesota 35.8 %
- Dallas 36.6 %
Free Throw percentage
- Minnesota 79.6 %
- Dallas 69.8 %
The entire series will be televised nationally on TNT.
Game # Date Time Location
Game 1 Wed, May 22 7:30 p.m. Target Center (Minneapolis)
Game 2 Fri, May 24 7:30 p.m. Target Center
Game 3 Sun, May 26 7 p.m. American Airlines Center (Dallas)
Game 4 Tue, May 28 7:30 p.m. American Airlines Center
Game 5* Thu, May 30 7:30 p.m. Target Center
Game 6* Sat, June 1 7:30 p.m. American Airlines Center
Game 7* Mon, June 3 7:30 p.m. Target Center
*If necessary
The Eastern Conference Finals will be televised nationally on ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC. It will feature the No. 1 seeded Boston Celtics vs the No. 6 seeded Indiana Pacers.
Game # Date Time Location TV
Game 1 Tue, May 21 7 p.m. Boston ESPN/ESPN2
Game 2 Thu, May 23 7 p.m. Boston ESPN
Game 3 Sat, May 25 7:30 p.m. Indiana ABC
Game 4 Mon, May 27 7 p.m. Indiana ESPN/ESPN2
Game 5* Wed, May 29 7 p.m. Boston ESPN
Game 6* Fri, May 31 7 p.m. Indiana ESPN
Game 7* Sun, June 2 7 p.m. Boston ESPN
The NBA Finals will begin on Thursday, June 6 at 7 p.m. with game coverage available on ABC.
