After two bankruptcies in a row, the Dallas Mavericks are back on the road to success. In the 110:108 win against Minnesota, however, the Texans have to tremble in a wild final phase until the final buzzer. The strong team performance compensates for the manageable appearance of Luka Doncic.
Dallas Mavericks (44-28) – Minnesota Timberwolves (42-31) 110:108 (BOXSCORE)
The Slovenian finished the game with 15 points at 5/17 from the field (3/11 trebles), he also recorded 6 rebounds, 10 assists, but also 8 turnovers. His teammates jumped to his side, five other Mavs scored at least 15 points – that hasn’t happened since 1989! Dwight Powell became the top scorer (22 and 8 rebounds, 8/8 FG).
Reggie Bullock (18, 6/11 threes) and Dorian Finney-Smith (15) assisted with important shooting and multiple clutch threesomes, Spencer Dinwiddie delivered scoring off the bench (20). Again, Maxi Kleber didn’t find his rhythm offensively (3, 1/9 FG and 0/6 threes), but convinced defensively with 5 rebounds and 3 assists in 24 minutes.
Dallas kept the competitor at bay in the fight for a safe playoff ticket. The home side remain fifth in the west, with Minnesota dropping back to seventh behind Denver after the loss. The Mavs’ lead over the Wolves, however, is just 2.5 games and a game behind fourth-place Utah.
The hosts managed to keep the newly crowned Western Conference Player of the Week Karl-Anthony Towns in check for long stretches of the game. He scored 22 points (8/17 FG), Anthony Edwards (19), D’Angelo Russell (18) and Taurean Princce (17) were the only other Wolves players in double digits.
Dallas Mavericks: Delay due to leak in the hall roof
The evening in Dallas started strangely. After severe storms in Texas, water dripped into the American Airlines Center through a leak in the hall roof, and the tip-off was delayed by almost 20 minutes. Bullock was apparently not impressed by this. In his first game after a four-game break (personal reasons), he came back with two three-pointers in a row.
Otherwise, however, the Mavs engine still sputtered. Doncic was particularly noticeable with turnovers (4), Dallas only scored 3/12 from distance in the first quarter. The hosts were lucky that, despite a strong start from Russell, they were only 23:29 behind in the second half.
Dinwiddie’s scoring from the bench and a highlight block from Kleber quickly turned the game around again. Doncic only scored his first points in the middle of the second quarter, Powell also made steam under the basket, while Towns was not yet to be seen much. After a hard-fought and entertaining first half, Dallas led 60-54.
A 10-0 start to the third quarter gave the Mavs their first double-digit lead in five games (+16). Minnesota had big problems with the Dallas defense in this phase, but Doncic didn’t get going either – Patrick Beverley made a real effort to annoy the Mavs star. On the other side, Edwards found his rhythm better and brought the Wolves back up to 81:86 by the end of the period.
Mavs win against Timberwolves in wild final phase
Both teams gave each other nothing in the final section. A good four and a half minutes before the end, Beverley stole the ball from Doncic and fired from the line of three – equalizer! Shortly thereafter, the visitors secured their first lead of the second half, Powell had to go on the bench with his sixth foul. Finney-Smith perfected a Mavs 7-0 run from the corner, Towns responded with a smashing dunk, but Bullock made his next treble after good ball movement by the Mavs.
But it remained exciting, 10 seconds before the end Dallas lost the ball at +3 and fouled Beverley. He missed his first free throw, then the second on purpose. He actually grabbed the offensive rebound and pulled another throwing foul – but coach Jason Kidd had the call checked. The referees reversed their decision, but the jump ball landed at Minnesota and the game repeated itself: Dallas fouled again on purpose, this time Beverley hit the first freebie and the Mavs were ultimately able to control the rebound from the second. Victory for Dallas!