Dallas Mavs WATCH: Luka Doncic Scores 25 Points vs. Minnesota Timberwolves

Luka Doncic scored 25 points in the first half of the Mavs' preseason loss against the Timberwolves in Abu Dhabi. Watch his full highlights here.

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — The Dallas Mavericks are participating in the NBA Global Games initiative by playing two games against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The first game ended as a 111-99 loss. 

Luka Doncic had an impressive performance, scoring 25 points in just the first half. The Mavs had a plan to limit his playing time with it being just a preseason game, but he is expected to play more in the team's second matchup against the Timberwolves before departing for Spain to play against Real Madrid on Oct. 10.

Dallas Mavs superstar Luka Doncic poured in 25 points on the Minnesota Timberwolves in just one half of action on Thursday :: Chris Marion/NBAE via Getty Images

"We've talked to those two about their minutes. Hopefully, we'll see their minutes on Saturday go up," Mavs coach Jason Kidd said of Doncic and Kyrie Irving. "This is a long journey, a long season, and we're just at the beginning of that.

"We wanted to see the younger guys play," Kidd explained. "Luka loves to play. Kai loves to play. But there's a sense of trying to get as much as we can here and also be able to let the public see Luka and Kai on the floor. They're not going to play 48 minutes on Saturday, but hopefully, we can get more minutes for those, for those guys."

Doncic's full highlights from his performance against the Timberwolves are included in the embedded YouTube video below. Subscribe to my channel for more content about Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks throughout the upcoming 2023-24 NBA season.

The Mavs and Timberwolves will play against each other again on Saturday at Etihad Arena. With Anthony Edwards being expected to play after sitting out due to an ankle injury on Thursday, the workload of each team's star players will be important to monitor in the second matchup.