Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavs Unbothered By Poor Shooting vs. Minnesota Timberwolves: 'One of Those Nights'

Despite a big performance from Luka Doncic, the Mavs' poor perimeter shooting performance was too much to overcome against the Timberwolves.

DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks remain one of the NBA's most perimeter shooting-reliant teams, averaging a league-most 15.9 makes per game and trailing only the Boston Celtics in attempts, taking 42.5 per game. In Thursday's 119-101 loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Mavs shot just 7-32 (21.9 percent) from deep, proving to be a pivotal factor in the outcome. 

“We lost," Doncic said. "That’s it.”

There was a clear emphasis from the Timberwolves to throw different looks at Doncic, between blitzing in ball screen coverages, looking to hedge-and-recover, and staying in a traditional drop coverage. However, there was a general emphasis on packing the paint, making the Slovenian superstar see a crowd on drives. He still finished with 39 points, six rebounds, and 13 assists in 39 minutes, but outside of his 2-7 (28.6 percent) shooting on 3s, the team went 5-25 (25.0 percent) from the perimeter. Tim Hardaway Jr. (0-7), Grant Williams (1-7), and Derrick Jones Jr. (1-6) combined to shoot 2-20 despite having success this season. 

"It's just one of those nights. We got great looks," Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. "Timmy [Hardaway Jr.]'s 0-for-7. You look at the guys who got looks; they didn't go down for us tonight. We can't be discouraged. There's a lot of positive things. Minnesota is the best team in the league, and we felt that we were playing well. Give them credit, but again, we had some great looks."

Dallas Mavericks' Grant Williams and Luka Doncic against the Minnesota Timberwolves / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Mavs remain unbothered by having an off-shooting night from beyond the arc, understanding it's their identity to put up a lot of attempts as they have one of the greatest there is at generating open looks for teammates in Doncic. There will be performances when shots do not fall consistently. 

"One, you've got to know who you are – and this is who we are. We can create a lot of 3s," Kidd said. "We've got guys who are very dynamic in the sense of being able to get into advantage basketball. There's going to be nights where they don't fall, but if we can continue to be consistent with being able to create those shots, then if you look at the analytics, the percentages will tell you you'll probably win more than you'll lose.

"There's going to be nights where it just doesn't drop but you've got to continue to keep playing," Kidd explained. "I thought our defense gave us an opportunity there. Give them credit – their bench was better than ours tonight. We'll go back and look at this and see how we can get better and grow."

The Timberwolves showed why they have the makings of an elite team, with frontcourt talents Naz Reid, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Rudy Gobert setting the tone. The Mavs were encouraged by the fight the team displayed, entering a game understanding there would be plenty of physicality and effort required.

“It definitely was a great team. They’re a great team," Mavs center Dereck Lively II said. "They have a lot of very talented bigs. So you know there’s going to be a lot of physicality, a lot of effort on the boards, and a lot of effort on defense. I feel like throughout the game it was a back-and-forth type of game. We definitely showed we were fighting through the game. We just weren’t able to pull it out at the end.”

The Mavs return to action on Saturday when they take on the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center, beginning a two-game road trip that ends against the reigning champion Denver Nuggets.