On Friday evening, Luka Doncic went up two games to zero in their Western Conference Finals series vs the Minnesota Timberwolves by stealing Game 2 despite trailing by 18 points earlier in the contest. Things are looking especially favorable now for Doncic and his Mavericks due to the fact that they've already won two games on the road, meaning all they have to do is now win two games back in the friendly confines of their home arena and they will be in the NBA Finals for the first time since 2011.
Of course, the biggest play of the night on Friday occurred when Doncic hit a step back three point dagger over Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert with just three seconds remaining on the clock. While it wasn't necessarily bad defense by the Defensive Player of the Year, it was still probably a little too easy of a look for Doncic, who has proven himself more than capable of knocking down that specific shot in clutch situations over the course of his career.
Two people in attendance were former NBA All-Stars and certified Rudy Gobert haters Shaquille O'Neal and Draymond Green, both of whom were working as part of TNT's Inside the NBA coverage of the game as the future of that show hangs in the balance.
Now, a newly unearthed video has shown the pair's real time reactions to Doncic's epic shot.
(Via Clutchpoints on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter–courtesy of Overtime).
https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1794768226037203322
O'Neal and Green both have different, equally unfounded reasons for their Rudy Gobert hatred. Green was involved in an altercation with Gobert earlier this year in which he was clearly the instigator and consequently found himself suspended for the first of multiple times this season. O'Neal, meanwhile, has consistently taken shots at Gobert over the years due to apparent jealousy over how much Gobert has been getting paid when compared to contracts back in O'Neal's day.
Can the Mavericks pull off the sweep?
It should be noted that this is not the first time in this playoffs that the Timberwolves have lost two straight games on their home floor. Last round in a wild series vs the Denver Nuggets, Minnesota dropped Games 3 and 4 at their home arena after stealing Games 1 and 2 on the road, and of course ultimately ended up winning that series in a thrilling Game 7 to set the stage for the matchup with the Mavericks.
The point being, while being down 0-2 and heading on the road might be a psychological death sentence for most teams, the Timberwolves wouldn't figure to be one of them.
Still, there's no denying that the Mavericks are firmly in the driver's seat in this series and are now just two wins away from a trip to the NBA Finals and a matchup with (in all likelihood) the Boston Celtics, which would start next Thursday.
In any case, Game 3 of the series is set for Sunday evening at 8:00 PM ET from Dallas and will be carried by TNT.
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