NBA playoffs: Luka Dončić scores 32 points and the decisive goal, Mavericks take 2-0 lead

The Dallas Mavericks lead the Western Conference finals 2-0 and gave the Minnesota Timberwolves a tough task.

With Luka Dončić leading the way, the Mavericks won Game 2 109-108 over the Timberwolves. Game 3 is scheduled for Sunday at 8 p.m. ET in Dallas (TNT).

Dončić scored 32 points on 10 of 23 shooting, 13 assists, 10 rebounds and, of course, the game-winning shot. Trailing 108-106 with four seconds left, Dončić drained a step-back three-pointer over Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert to blow the Target Center, which had once held an 18-point lead.

Doncic informed Gobert what happened immediately afterwards. In Slovenian, of course.

The Timberwolves had a chance to respond and even got the ball into the hands of Naz Reid, their best shooter of the night, but his potential game-winning shot missed. Reid finished the game with 23 points, hitting 8 of 13 shots (7 of 9 three-pointers), making him the best player on his team.

Minnesota was in control until early in the fourth quarter, when an 8-0 run wiped out the lead and the two teams became locked in a bitter battle. There were 11 different lead changes in the fourth quarter, with Dončić and Kyrie Irving alternating with Reid and Anthony Edwards.

Irving made his first 3-pointer of the series in the fourth quarter and three more in the rest of the game. He could have been the scapegoat, as he missed three of four free throws in the same quarter, but he made up for it with some incredible plays.

It was a brutal night for Minnesota, who thought they had the series-tying win in the bag but had to fight in the fourth quarter. They managed to build a five-point lead with a minute and a half left, but that was just the runway for Dončić to start again.

And then, of course, there were the referees.

Challenge controversy reaches its peak after Mavericks benefit from clear foul by Kyrie Irving

Less than a minute before Dončić made his shot, the Timberwolves were up 108-106 and had a chance to force Dallas into a foul-to-win situation. What happened next was a slow-motion disaster.

Jaden McDaniels caught an errant ball at the baseline, but Irving tried to knock it out of his hands. Irving managed to get the ball loose, but the referees called the game against the Mavericks. Dallas coach Jason Kidd contested the decision.

The replay showed Kidd was right. The ball was clearly not with McDaniels. However, it also showed that Irving had injured McDaniels' forearm so badly that he never touched the ball. Unfortunately for the Timberwolves, the referees could only determine who last touched the ball. Whether a foul was committed could not be verified because the referees did not call a foul on the play.

With 47 seconds left, the referees gave the ball to the Mavericks. Dončić missed the ensuing three-point attempt, but the loss was a major blow for Minnesota.

It was a classic situation where rules got in the way of a well-intentioned challenge system. There's a compelling argument to loosen the rules this offseason, but it will be little consolation for the Timberwolves.

Fans at Target Center were also left with a bitter aftertaste after perhaps the wildest play of the game, when Daniel Gafford blocked a three-pointer from Mike Conley, caught a long-field pass from Dončić and somehow scored a lay-up while standing almost horizontal.

The subsequent replay showed that Gafford got away with a clear shove to Conley's back.

It's always difficult to write things like this down because there will always be decisions that the referees miss. But those decisions are just inevitable when you're talking about how bad this night was for Minnesota, especially when their star player is clearly in a slump.

Anthony Edwards fights for the Timberwolves at an inopportune time

Few players have achieved as much notoriety this season as Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards, but his recent playoff games have begun to show a weak phase.

Since Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals, Edwards has shot 5-of-15, 8-of-17, 6-of-24, 6-of-16 and now 5-of-17, for a field goal percentage of 33.7% through five games.

Granted, the Timberwolves won two of those games and Edwards did a lot in other areas to be valuable on the court (he averaged 7 assists per game during that same time period), but you can't talk as much nonsense as he has in these playoffs and then turn into an offensive liability to the team.

One of Minnesota's top priorities in Game 3 will be figuring out how to get Edwards going, but the bigger question will be how to cool down Dončić.