Towns Leads T-Wolves' Second-Half Surge, Handily Defeats Shorthanded Mavs

The Timberwolves pulled away in the second half against the shorthanded Mavs, playing without Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and Dereck Lively II, among others.

MINNEAPOLIS — The Dallas Mavericks (26-22) were handily defeated by the Minnesota Timberwolves (34-14) with a final score of 121-87 on Wednesday night. Using a second-half surge, the T-Wolves pulled away in a significant way to seal the victory. The Mavs have now lost five of their previous seven games. 

Karl-Anthony Towns led the Timberwolves with 29 points, nine rebounds, and four assists. His frontcourt partner, Rudy Gobert, added 17 points and six rebounds. Minnesota received double-figure scoring outings from Naz Reid (12 points), Jaden McDaniels (11 points), and Mike Conley (10 points), too. 

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The Mavs played without Luka Doncic (right ankle sprain), Kyrie Irving (right thumb sprain), Dereck Lively II (broken nose), Derrick Jones Jr. (left wrist sprain), and Dante Exum (right knee bursitis) in this game. If Exum is considered in that group, Dallas played without each member of its intended starting lineup. 

“Just part of the process. We go through injuries; you can play who can suit up," Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. "The group that played, again, we can learn from this. Once we got hit, we had to be able to return that hit, and I thought the physicality kinda left us again when we started to not be able to score on the offensive end."

Josh Green led the Mavs in scoring with 18 points. Richaun Holmes logged a double-double filling in as the starting center, totaling 11 points and 10 rebounds. Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jaden Hardy combined for 27 points while shooting just 10-29 from the floor and 3-15 from the perimeter. 

Whether missing open catch-and-shoot jumpers or turning it over, McDaniels struggled early on, providing opportunities for the Mavs to gain possessions and attack on the break. A breakaway dunk for Green developed after McDaniels tried forcing a dropoff pass, bringing the Mavs within 12-11 with 5:45 left in the first quarter. 

Amid the Mavs' injury issues, the team deployed rookie Olivier-Maxence Prosper in the opening period. He's frequented the Texas Legends on G League assignments in recent weeks. With Green scoring 14 of his 18 points in the first half, Dallas had enough to keep it close early, with the Timberwolves having an off-shooting night. 

A sluggish start for the Timberwolves became a slow opening. Tim Hardaway Jr. put the Mavs up 39-35 after using a shot fake to create a fly-by before pulling up for a 3-pointer. Dallas' advantage did not last long. Towns heated up from beyond the arc to close the opening half with a pair of makes, positioning the Timberwolves with a 52-48 edge at halftime. 

"They’re the number one team in the West for a reason. They came and executed, put us in rotations a lot, and made it tough," Holmes said. "They got into our paint, [Towns] imposes well on the game, so they did what they do, you know, we just didn’t respond in the second half.”

After the break, the Timberwolves hit a major stride, scoring 69 points to close the game while containing the Mavs to only 39. 

"I mean, they hit us first. You know, they came out, they were playing aggressively on the defensive end," Green said. "They were moving the ball on the offensive end, and they were hitting their shots. It’s a game of runs, and they got on a great run, and we just couldn’t answer back to that."

Towns continued the Timberwolves' momentum, hitting a 3-pointer on the trail to extend their lead to 63-55 with 7:31 left in the third quarter. A pull-up from mid-range by McDaniels put Minnesota ahead by double figures midway through the third period, but the momentum did not stop. 

Minnesota led by as many as 15 points in the third quarter, with Towns reaching 29 points already. The Timberwolves were up 83-70 entering the fourth quarter after containing the Mavs to just 22 points in the third quarter while scoring the game's only period with 30 or more points by either team. 

"Give Minnesota credit. They made us take tough 2s or long 2s instead of us being able to create," Kidd said. "The ball touched the paint, and we were able to get threes. We just weren’t able to do that in the second half.”

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Minnesota had built a double-figure lead despite Anthony Edwards not having to assert himself much offensively. He had nine points and five assists in 29 minutes at the start of the final period. 

With only 70 points under 10 minutes left to play, the Mavs did not have enough offensive firepower to overcome such a challenging Timberwolves matchup, particularly at Target Center. Minnesota's lead grew to be as large as 36 points. 

Reid hitting back-to-back 3-pointers was the final straw for the Mavs before they emptied their bench of a timeout with 8:16 left to play. Dallas did not break the 80-point mark until 2:48 remaining in regulation.

On Saturday night, the Mavs return to action when they face the Milwaukee Bucks in part of a one-game stop at American Airlines Center before a three-game East Coast road trip.