Mavs Lose To T-Wolves
By Brian Hall, The Sports Xchange
MINNEAPOLIS — Another double-digit, second-half lead had vanished for the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night. The Dallas Mavericks had closed within a possession after a 3-pointer by Dirk Nowitzki.
Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns and Ricky Rubio weren’t going to let another game slip away, however.
Towns had 34 points and 11 rebounds and Minnesota held on to beat Dallas 101-92 on Monday night.
Rubio added 13 points, a season-high 15 assists, five rebounds and five steals for the Timberwolves, who snapped a four-game losing streak in a battle of teams at the bottom of the Western Conference standings.
“We locked in, we learned from the past — especially last game at home wasn’t a good one,” Rubio said. “We felt like we’ve (let) slip away way too many games and our record should be better but it is what it is. From here, we’ve got to play better in the fourth quarter. I think we’ve been doing a pretty good job for three quarters all season, but the fourth quarter is just different.
“It’s when you win games. Of course a young team is going to struggle but … we’ve got to win those games.”
Minnesota (12-26) overcame 18 turnovers by shooting 56.3 percent from the field and outrebounding the Mavericks, 42-25. The Timberwolves led by as many 21 points but never relinquished the lead. They have lost 12 games this season when leading by 10 or more points.
“I thought Ricky had great command of the game with his dribble penetration and I thought he made great reads early with Karl,” Minnesota coach Tom Thibodeau said. “That got Karl going. And (Rubio) settled us down in the fourth.”
Harrison Barnes scored 30 points for the Mavericks (11-27), who have lost six of their past eight games. Nowitzki added 26 points, hitting a season-high five 3-pointers.
“Every time I felt like we fought our way back, we shot ourselves in the foot a little bit,” Nowitzki said. “Just not good enough overall to really make them really grind for that one, just never really got close enough and got over the hump to maybe take the lead one time and really make them sweat.”
A Nowitzki 3-pointer ended a 9-1 run to close the Mavericks within three points in the third quarter, the closest Dallas came in the second half. Towns was called for two offensive fouls during the run.
But Towns scored the final four points of the third quarter, finishing with eight points, six rebounds and three blocks in the third. Rubio scored nine points and had four assists in the fourth as the Timberwolves stretched out the lead again.
Towns single-handedly put Minnesota on top in the first quarter. He scored 20 of the team’s 33 points in the first 12 minutes, the second time in his career he has scored at least 20 points in a quarter. He outscored Dallas, which finished the quarter with 19 points.
“I guess it was my lucky day,” Towns said. “I just found good ways to find ways that they couldn’t double-team me in spots where it was very difficult to double-team me. We had a day off and I went back and looked at myself and all the teachings that (Kevin Garnett) had given me and I tried to implement them all tonight. And that’s what I did.”
The Mavericks answered after halftime with Nowitzki hitting from the outside. The 18-year veteran hung out by the 3-point line and was open several times as the Timberwolves’ defense collapsed. Nowitzki had nine points on 3-of-4 shooting from 3-point range in the quarter to shrink the lead to seven points.
Only Brooklyn (1-17) has a worse road record than Dallas.
“There’s nothing easy about any game, any single game, this year for us,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “Nobody’s looking for it to get easier. This is just a tough year. If we play well and play together, we give ourselves a chance.”
Minnesota’s seventh home win of the season ties Dallas, Denver, Phoenix and Sacramento for the fewest in the West, though the Timberwolves have played more home games than each of the other teams.
