Rudy Gobert after Timberwolves Game 2 loss to Mavericks: 'I let my team down'

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - There was plenty of blame to go around after the Minnesota Timberwolves lost to the Dallas Mavericks 109-108 Friday night at Target Center to fall into an 0-2 hole in the Western Conference Finals.

Rudy Gobert took the brunt of it. The Timberwolves had the lead with under a minute to play, then Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels committed turnovers. Luka Doncic, who had 32 points on the night, hit the game-winning 3-pointer over Gobert with three seconds to play.

"Just switched on the pick and roll and I was in iso. Luka hit a big-time shot. I let my team down on the last play," Gobert said. "They believed in me to get a stop and they scored a 3."

They still had a chance, and Edwards found Naz Reid for an option shot for the potential game-winner. Reid led the Timberwolves with 23 points and shot 7-of-9 from three-point range, but his potential game-winner at the buzzer was halfway down, and rimmed out. The Timberwolves head to Dallas down 0-2 in the best-of-seven series.

"I thought it was good. Shot it with confidence, Ant trusted me to get the shot up and to make that. I thought it was good, it went in and out, just how the game goes," Reid said.

The bigger issue for the Timberwolves is turnovers at critical times, and their best offensive players unable to consistently make shots. Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns combined to score 36 points, but shot just 9-of-33 from the field.

"Same story as the other night, two turnovers in the guts of the game, not going to get it done. Our offense is letting us down with some missed shots and turnovers in key moments," Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. "Two tough games, it’s a long series and keep our head up. There’s a lot of basketball to be played."

The headaches started early for the Timberwolves Friday. They had to burn a timeout just 34 seconds into the game after Dallas scored on its opening possession. Mike Conley was inbounding the ball, but had nobody to pass it to. The other four players were all on the other end of the floor. Conley used a timeout to avoid a five-second call.

The Timberwolves had a 60-48 lead at the half and led by as many as 18 in the third quarter, but couldn’t hold it.

The Timberwolves need a win Sunday night in Dallas to avoid facing elimination in Game 4.