Wolves eventually find their way in win over undermanned Mavericks
It looked like the Timberwolves were going to blow the socks off of the Dallas Mavericks Thursday night at Target Center.
Behind a dominant start from Anthony Edwards and hot shooting from the rest of the group, the Wolves jumped out to a 32-17 lead over the Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving-less Mavericks with just over three minutes remaining in the first quarter.
But turnovers, fouls and frustration by Minnesota let Dallas hang in the game, and the Mavericks managed to close the gap to five by the end of the first half.
The Wolves were eventually able to find their way to a 118-110 win, but they made it harder than it needed to be and it took some heroics from Edwards.
Edwards had the Wolves (23-7) going early, scoring 14 points in the first quarter as Minnesota took a 37-26 advantage into the second frame. Edwards, who finished with 44 points, three rebounds and four assists, appeared to have the Wolves en route to a blowout, but things started to unravel for Minnesota in the second quarter.
Turnovers were the primary issue. The Wolves racked up 15 in the first half and had 22 on the night.
"If we didn't turn the ball over, we shot the lights out. We're shooting 60 from the field, 70 from 3 at half and had 15 turnovers," Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. "And we're just going places where there's nowhere to go and it's on us."
Minnesota seemed to get into a particular rut offensively in the second quarter after a number of foul calls didn't go the team's way.
Karl-Anthony Towns was called for an offensive foul when he caught Dante Exum with an elbow while backing him down. Towns was exasperated with the call and Finch challenged it, resulting in one of the quickest reviews you’ll ever see that confirmed that Towns did indeed commit an offensive foul.
The Wolves were called for 21 fouls on the night. The Mavericks were called for 27.
The Wolves seemed flustered for the remainder of the quarter as the Mavericks (18-14) whittled Minnesota’s lead down to five. Turnovers continued to be the Wolves' biggest problem, and their biggest stars were the culprits.
Edwards turned the ball over six times, and Towns racked up five turnovers.
"I think everyone at times everyone is a little too worried about getting their own offense going," Finch said. "Ant had a hot start, so we gotta ride that hot start, but when that hot start's over, then you got to start making plays.
"And other people, if they haven't touched the ball for a little while, they can't just decide that they're going to put their head down and go to the hoop or they're just gonna jack it because they haven't shot it for a little while. And it's everybody that had done that at one point in time. I thought the end of the second quarter in particular we all were having a pity party for ourselves."
Dallas carried its second-quarter momentum — at least briefly — into the second half as it battled back to take one-point leads twice early in the frame.
Tim Hardaway Jr. was a force for the Mavericks, scoring 10 in the third quarter and finishing the game with 32 points.
But then Edwards took over in the latter half of the quarter, scoring 18 points as the Wolves rebuilt a seven-point lead — 98-91 — by quarter's end. Rudy Gobert was a key cog in Minnesota's offense throughout the game, tallying 20 points and 11 boards.
It finally all came together for Minnesota in the fourth quarter as it rode its defense to the finish line. The Wolves held Dallas to 19 points in the frame as they closed out a difficult game against an undermanned Mavericks team.
"I liked our physicality in the second half, I didn't care for it so much in the first half," Finch said.
With the win, the Wolves are now 13-1 in downtown Minneapolis.
Final key stats
- Anthony Edwards: 44 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block, 6 turnovers
- Rudy Gobert: 20 points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 assists
- Jaden McDaniels: 12 points, 4 blocks, 1 steal
- Karl-Anthony Towns: 10 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 turnovers
- Mike Conley: 10 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 block
- Tim Hardaway Jr.: 32 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
