Anthony Edwards Scores Season-High 44 Points, Leads Timberwolves Win Over Mavs
MINNEAPOLIS — The odds were about as stacked against the Dallas Mavericks as imaginable entering Thursday's matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving were among the critical inactives against a team 15-1 at home while playing on the second night of a back-to-back.
Achieving a victory was made all the more improbable by allowing Anthony Edwards to score a season-high 44 points, leading the Wolves to a 118-110 victory. The Mavs fell to 18-14 on the season, losing five of their last seven games. Minnesota is now 23-7 overall and 13-1 at home, the best start in franchise history.
The Timberwolves, a team that hasn't lost consecutive games this season, sought to bounce back from a 129-106 road loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Afforded the rare opportunity to get in a practice day, Minnesota worked to tighten things up with its shell defense and general principles.
"We spent a lot of time yesterday just trying to rebuild some parts of our defense that had slipped," Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. "A number of weeks since we've been able to practice, we'd seen it coming, and it just so happened it was what Oklahoma City did, just living in our paint.
"Our shell defense wasn't very good, so I just needed some work on that," Finch explained. "We have to get the urgency back to get that right because that's been the foundation of everything that we've been able to do this year."
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The Mavs continued to give Anthony Edwards similar looks as they had in his previous outing when he sorely struggled to score. This time, the superstar guard was getting to his spots and playing through contact effectively early to set the tone. He totaled 11 points and two assists before the midway mark of the opening period, helping to establish a 20-6 lead at the 7:05 mark.
“Just shoot it, yeah, I put in my mind before the game that I’m probably gonna shoot every time I touch it," Edwards said. "I came in with the mindset that whatever I was gonna do, I was gonna do.”
Naz Reid again posed problems for the Mavs and the Timberwolves' other frontcourt members like Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert. Reid converted a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter, giving Minnesota a 32-17 lead late in the period. Minnesota continued to sustain its momentum for the rest of the period.
“We knew there was a lot of time left in the game,” Mavs center Dwight Powell said. “It was going to come down to effort and execution. We did a good job of bouncing back from that initial deficit.”
The Mavs began to rely more on switching defensively than trying to maintain a drop when containing ball screens for much of the game to disrupt the Timberwolves' rhythm. Given the advantages they hold playing pick-and-roll through bigs like Gobert and Towns, forcing more of a one-on-one game was the goal to mix it up.
"I think the switching one through five to get through has given us a little bit of trouble," Timberwolves forward Kyle Anderson said. "Maybe the ball got a little steep. Just a different type of offense and pace you have to play with when teams are switching. It takes pick-and-roll out of the game. It takes rotations, driving-and-kicking out of the game."
Often playing out of handoffs throughout the first half, Seth Curry and Tim Hardaway Jr. making timely plays and shooting the ball late in the second quarter, the Mavs cut the Timberwolves' lead to just 54-51 with 1:18 left in the period. Both sharpshooters were getting to the free throw line after getting fouled on jumpers and converting some and-ones. Minnesota led 61-56 at the half, with Edwards scoring 22 points.
“You’re never satisfied with losing, but there are a lot of good things we can take from this,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “I thought the energy and effort – guys competed. And our bench was really good for us.”
Dereck Lively II picked up a fourth personal foul shortly after halftime, resulting in him getting subbed out for Powell. Jaden McDaniels immediately attacked the rim for a possible and-one finish but missed the free throw. However, Minnesota failed to break the game open at this point.
Jaden Hardy stepped up in the third quarter to help sustain the Mavs' outlook, scoring five consecutive points, including a pull-up from mid-range and a step-back 3, before connecting with Powell on a lob out of double drag. Dallas came within just one point at that point, then went on to briefly lead by one after Powell followed up a blocked finish attempt with a putback.
The Mavs subbed in Markieff Morris with a one-point lead following a pair of made free throws by Hardaway. With poor execution on both ends, including a turnover leading to a breakaway slam for McDaniels, Dallas quickly trailed 79-74 at the 4:59 mark of the third quarter.
With Edwards' shotmaking and Towns playing bully ball against an undersized Mavs defense with Lively on the bench, Minnesota recovered a double-figure lead late in the third quarter to take control of the game. Despite Hardaway heating up from beyond the arc with three makes late in the period, punishing Minnesota's drop coverage, Dallas trailed 98-91 heading into the fourth quarter.
“I thought the group fought,” Kidd said. “We had some good looks. We hold a team to 20 points, but only score 19 in the fourth. It’s just tired bodies. We tried to keep rotating fresh bodies in there. We just came up short.”
With Edwards continuing to pour it on the Mavs — including a step-back 3 with over five minutes left to play to reach 41 points on the night at that point — Minnesota led by an 11-point margin with about five minutes left to play. Hardaway provided more hot shooting to spark some late momentum for Dallas, with Exum cutting for a finish to bring it within five points at one point. The rally attempt wasn't enough.
Hardaway, who has thrived in a sixth-man role throughout the season, led the Mavs with 32 points. He was focused on taking what the defense gave him, which suited his skill set, with the Timberwolves trying to emphasize protecting the paint with drop coverage and not switching out on the perimeter frequently.
“I think it was just playing within myself, not doing too much. Guys finding me, just picking and choosing my spots," Hardaway said. "I don’t think I took any wild shots to try and get myself going; I think I took what the defense gave me and connected on that, which also helped open up driving lanes and passing lanes for my guys to give them the ball and attack and go out there and play basketball.”
Other standout performers for the Mavs included Hardy, scoring 17 points as a starter, particularly with timely makes in the second half. Jones chipped in 15 points, nine rebounds, and three steals, shooting a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line. Exum added 11 points and six assists. Powell produced a big statistical performance with 12 points, 14 rebounds, and six assists off the bench. Curry was another double-figure scorer with 11 points.
The Mavs struggled to keep Edwards and the Timberwolves off the free throw line, allowing the superstar guard to set a career-high in attempts (18), while the team shot 25-34 (73.5 percent) as a group. While Minnesota turned it over 22 times, Dallas also limited its potential advantage by having 16 turnovers.
"I think, you know, turnovers were hurting us. We need to get shot attempts, we just talked about that in a timeout," Kidd said. "I thought every three that they shot there in the first five or six minutes went in, and we needed to take them off the line."
Towns was held to a lesser shooting night as he scored 10 points on 3-12 from the floor, 2-6 from deep, 2-4 on free throws while turning it over five times. However, Gobert racked up 20 points, 11 rebounds, and three blocks to overcome it. McDaniels scored 12, while Conley added 10 points and six assists.
In terms of what the Mavs can take from this game, they were satisfied with how they rallied back after a slow start. They liked the production Hardy and Hardaway provided in their respective roles after previously struggling when starting against the Houston Rockets without Doncic or Irving available.
"We’re never satisfied with losing, but there are a lot of good things that we can take from this," Kidd said. "I thought the energy and effort, guys competed, the bench was really good tonight, look at what (Jaden) Hardy did for us starting. We slid (Tim Hardaway Jr.) back into his role; he was good for us tonight.
"I think the group fought, we had some good looks there, and then we held a team to 20 points but only scored 19 in the fourth," Kidd explained. "Just some tired bodies, and we just tried to keep rotating fresh bodies and then we just came up short.”
The Mavs continue a three-game road trip with a matchup against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday.
