'Show Must Go On': Short-Handed Mavs Fall to Timberwolves, 111-105

The Dallas Mavericks lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night, 111-105, with Kristaps Porzingis leaving the game early with a foot injury.

Lance Roberson | Dec 19, 2021

While the league struggles with COVID, the Dallas Mavericks have also dealt with the virus as Josh Green and Reggie Bullock missed Sunday night's game. Without two of their players due to health and safety protocols, and their best player in Luka Doncic dealing with an ankle problem, the Mavericks lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves, 111-105.

The loss dropped the Mavs back under .500 with a 14-15 record.

Jalen Brunson, the primary starting point guard with Doncic out of the lineup, was in charge but not always in control as he slipped and collided with defenders, committing five turnovers. Brunson finished as the Mavs' third-leading scorer with 18 points while dishing out 11 assists.

Tim Hardaway Jr. and Dorian Finney-Smith led the Mavs in scoring on Sunday night with 28 and 23 points, respectively. The two combined to shoot 19-of-32 from the field and hit seven of the team's 12 made threes on the night.

That'll work, @T_HardJR @dallasmavs | #MFFL pic.twitter.com/jqPN8CAGo4
— Bally Sports Southwest (@BallySportsSW) December 20, 2021

With 71 players league-wide in health and safety protocols, it's natural that Dallas has now started to face some of those challenges. COVID aside, the Mavericks are still without Doncic, who is the Mavs' great equalizer and makes up for a lot of roster shortcomings when he's available.

Indicative of the team's continued offensive struggles, the Mavericks don't have the luxury of making something out of nothing as they lack the elite ball-handling.

Too much space 🤷‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/syp6lbhQpx
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) December 20, 2021

DallasBasketball.com focused on Kristaps Porzingis and Karl-Anthony Towns as the headliners of Sunday evening's contest. Unfortunately, Porzingis went to the locker room during the third quarter due to right foot soreness; he didn't return to the game. Porzingis scored 13 points, shooting 2-of-9 in 23 minutes played.

Meanwhile, Towns lived at the free-throw line with 13 attempts. The self-proclaimed "best big-man shooter" made one three-point attempt.

The Dallas Mavericks will face the Timberwolves again Tuesday evening at the American Airlines Center.

Will Porzingis play Tuesday?

Follow DallasBasketball.com for further updates.