Timberwolves blow out short-handed Mavericks behind strong second half
Despite having nearly every impact player on their roster ruled out Wednesday, the Dallas Mavericks hung tough for the first half of play at Target Center.
But the Timberwolves slowly started to pull away in the third quarter and opened the fourth frame on an 11-0 run en route to a blowout 121-87 victory.
"Defense was really good in the second half, first half not so much," Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. "... A little heavy legged, kind of a typical game when you get back from a long road trip. We were just trying to find it, rhythm offense, rhythm defense, so did a really good job of kind of digging in and finding it in the second half."
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 11 points in the third quarter as Minnesota extended its four-point halftime lead to 13. Kyle Anderson hit a hook shot in the paint, Mike Conley drove in for a floater and Naz Reid and Conley each knocked down 3-pointers to cap an 11-0 run open the fourth that gave the Timberwolves (34-14) a 94-70 advantage.
Meanwhile defensively, Minnesota shut down Dallas (26-22) after the halftime break. The undermanned Mavericks shot just 21% from 3-point range and 41% from the field on the night while the Timberwolves were flying around and making it difficult for them to find any kind of rhythm offensively in the second half.
"We wanted to make sure we took their shooters out the best we could. We experienced it last time we played them, how we got up big and then came back in out from the 3-point line," Finch said. "Guys did a good job of battling through screens and the bigs were up to challenge the shooting players coming off the action."
The last time the Timberwolves played the Mavericks — a 115-108 loss in Dallas on Jan. 7 — the Mavs hit 15 3s and Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic scored 35 and 34 points, respectively.
But this time the Mavericks were down Doncic (ankle) and Irving (thumb) as well as Dereck Lively II (broken nose), Dante Exum (knee) and Derrick Jones Jr. (wrist).
Still, when the Mavericks visited Target Center on Dec. 28 without Doncic and Irving, Tim Hardaway Jr. kept Dallas within reach by pouring in 32 points off the bench, 15 of which came from the 3-point line. The Timberwolves won that game 118-110, but they were forced to battle to the bitter end.
That wasn't the case on Wednesday, when they took care of business, particularly on the defensive side of the basketball, down the stretch. The Timberwolves emptied their bench with just over five minutes remaining in the game.
Conley, back after a two-game absence due to a hamstring injury, finished his night with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, four rebounds and three assists. He hit a couple key 3-pointers late as Minnesota pulled further and further away.
The Mavericks’ starting lineup of Josh Green, Grant Williams, Richaun Holmes, Jaden Hardy and Hardaway battled back and forth with the Wolves for the better part of the first half, even holding a narrow lead for extended minutes in the second quarter. But Dallas couldn’t ever string enough together to put Minnesota in any kind of danger.
Towns hit a 3-pointer just before half to give the Wolves a 52-48 lead at the break.
Towns led Minnesota with 29 points to go along with nine rebounds and four assists.
It was a quiet game for Anthony Edwards, who attempted just five shots all game despite seeing 30 minutes. He had nine points, five rebounds and five assists.
Rudy Gobert continued his strong month of January in their last game before the calendar turns to February, posting 17 points and six rebounds. Both he and Jaden McDaniels, who finished with 11 points, picked up their fourth fouls during the Wolves’ third-quarter run. There was a lot of frustration with officiating both on the court and on the Minnesota bench, but that never hindered Minnesota’s focus as it methodically pulled away from the undermanned Mavericks.
Naz Reid added 12 points and eight rebounds off the bench for the Timberwolves, who took care of business Wednesday night and made sure not to let a short-handed team hang around down the stretch.
Final key stats
- Karl-Anthony Towns: 29 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal
- Rudy Gobert: 17 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks
- Naz Reid: 12 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block
- Jaden McDaniels: 11 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds
- Mike Conley: 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block
