As of early Saturday afternoon, most books had Dallas (60-36 straight up, 57-39 against the spread) installed as a three-point home favorite vs. Minnesota in Sunday’s Game 3 of the Western Conference finals.

The Mavericks took a commanding 2-0 series lead by beating the Timberwolves 109-108 thanks to Luka Doncic’s step-back, go-ahead 3-pointer over Rudy Gobert with 3.1 seconds left. Naz Reid’s potential game-winning trey at the buzzer went in and out.

Dallas won outright in Friday’s Game 2 as a six-point road underdog, cashing money-line tickets in the +210 neighborhood. The 217 combined points went ‘over’ the 207-point total on Anthony Edwards’s free throw with 1:56 remaining.

“I was just trying to get to my spot and step back. I’m confident in that shot,” Doncic said about his clutch game winner.

The sixth-year veteran point guard posted a triple-double with 32 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds. The 25-year-old Doncic drained 5-of-11 launches from downtown and all seven of his free throws. Kyrie Irving hit 4-of-7 attempts from 3-point range and finished with 20 points and six assists compared to two turnovers.

Daniel Gafford was outstanding in just 21 minutes of action, producing 16 points, five rebounds and five blocked shots on 8-of-10 field-goal attempts. Dereck Lively II added 14 points, nine boards and two assists without a turnover, making all six of his FGAs and both of his free throws. P.J. Washington was also in double figures for the winners, finishing with 10 points, five rebounds, two blocks and one steal.

In the losing effort, Reid had a team-best 23 points on 7-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc. Edwards had 21 points, seven assists and five rebounds, but his shooting slump continued with a 5-of-17 performance from the field. Edwards had made only 30-of-89 FGAs (33.7%) in the T-wolves’ last five contests.

Karl-Anthony Towns contributed 15 points, seven rebounds, two steal and three assists without a turnover, but he hit only 4-of-16 FGAs and 1-of-5 from long distance. Mike Conley had 18 points, five assists, five boards, one steal and one block, while Gobert finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds, two steals and one block.

Dallas had a 24/10 assist-to-turnover ratio and had a 44-40 rebounding advantage over Minnesota.

As of Saturday afternoon, most spots had the Game 3 total at 208.5 points, while the T-wolves were +125 to +130 on the money line.

The ‘over’ has hit in the first two games of the series that have netted combined scores of 213 and 217 points. Although the ‘under’ went 4-0 in four regular-season meetings between these clubs, those combined scores were 220, 228, 223 and 208 points.

The ‘over’ is 8-5 for Minnesota in 13 postseason games to improve to 49-46 overall. Totals have been a wash for the Mavs in 14 playoff games (7-7), but they’ve seen the ‘under’ go 53-43 overall.

FanDuel’s updated series price has Dallas as a -600 ‘chalk,’ leaving Minnesota as a +450 underdog. The series spread has the Mavs at -2.5 games for a -142 price, with the T-wolves at +2.5 for a +116 return.

The book has +148 odds for Dallas to sweep Minnesota in four games. On the flip side, bettors thinking that the T-wolves will win the next four games can collect a +1300 (or 13/1) payout.

Going into tonight’s Game 3 of the East finals at Indiana, FanDuel has Boston with -230 odds to win the NBA Finals. The Mavs are +250, followed by the T-wolves (14/1) and Indiana (150/1).

Minnesota (64-31 SU, 49-46 ATS) won three of four head-to-head meetings over Dallas in the regular season, but Irving was out of the lineup in those three losses. The Mavs are now 3-0 against the T-wolves when Irving is in uniform.

Minnesota owns a 5-1 record both SU and ATS in six road games in these playoffs, including three wins at Denver. Meanwhile, Dallas has compiled a 4-2 SU record while going 3-3 ATS in six postseason home outings.

Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. Eastern on TNT.

PREDICTION: I’m on Minnesota +3 in for one unit.