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MINNEAPOLIS — LaMelo Ball and Bones Hyland went a combined 11-of-16 from 3-point range Thursday as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Dallas Mavericks 133-94 at Target Center. Ball had 22 points and 9 assists in 25:19, and Hyland scored 24 off the bench in 22:41.
The rest of Minnesota’s roster went 4-of-16 from deep. The Timberwolves won their fifth straight to improve to 9-3. Dallas fell to 7-5 in the 133-94 loss, which ended a three-game winning streak in the opener of a three-game road trip.
LaMelo Ball Hits Five 3-Pointers From 25 Feet Or Deeper
Ball went 8-of-14 from the field and 6-of-10 from 3-point range, adding 3 rebounds and 4 turnovers. He entered the night averaging 18.3 points and 6.0 assists while shooting 38.5% from deep through 11 games.
Five of his six 3-pointers came from 25 feet or deeper, according to the official play-by-play, including a 31-footer 43 seconds into the third quarter. He scored 16 points in the first half and sat for all but 2:49 of the fourth quarter.
“I mean, I think that’s for us painfully obvious that he gets going like that,” Mavericks coach Dusty May said. “He’s making shots off the dribble from 26, 28 feet. We’ve got to figure out a solution for it, but then he’s able to get in the paint and break you down when you do push up and put two on the ball. So obviously, when he has it going like that, he’s an extremely tough cover, and he played well tonight.”
Ball scored 10 points in the second quarter, including step-back 3-pointers from 25 and 27 feet in a span of 1:16. He also had 4 assists in the period, two of them on dunks by Rudy Gobert and Jonathan Kuminga.
Zaccharie Risacher finished with 22 points for Dallas, adding 2 steals and a block. Ball committed 4 turnovers, Minnesota’s most.
“I feel like we let them play their basketball, and I feel like, talking about me, like, putting more pressure on the ball, like, getting physical, so they’re not as comfortable as they were,” Risacher said. “Helping each other out, I mean, that’s what we’ve been doing, and that’s how we, that’s how we won games. And I feel like we just gotta keep doing communication, playing hard on defense, playing physical, and helping each other out.”
Minnesota finished with 33 assists on 52 field goals. Ball and Hyland combined for 17 of them, against 5 turnovers.
Bones Hyland Goes 5-Of-6 From Deep Off The Bench
Hyland finished with 24 points, 3 rebounds, and 8 assists on 7-of-10 shooting, 5-of-6 from 3-point range, and 5-of-6 at the free-throw line. He entered Thursday averaging 8.5 points in 12.3 minutes and shooting 34% from deep.
Hyland checked in with 4:34 left in the first quarter and Dallas ahead 20-16. Minnesota outscored the Mavericks 18-6 the rest of the period, and Hyland had 8 of those points on a 29-foot 3-pointer, two free throws, and a 25-foot step-back 3-pointer.
“The most disappointing, just the way we responded to the runs, it was probably the thing that was most disappointing,” May explained. “And once the floodgates opened, they’re an explosive team. Their speed, their athleticism. And then you factor that in with the shot making. Bones comes in, goes 5-of-6. A lot of those are off the bounce from three.”
“And so it’s kind of the perfect storm where we’re not capitalizing on numbers breaks, we have a couple loose turnovers, and then they just make you pay, and then you’re playing on your heels,” May continued.
Hyland added 9 points in the fourth quarter, including 3-pointers from 28 and 27 feet 61 seconds apart. Minnesota outscored Dallas 26-23 in fast-break points.
Dallas trailed by 15 at halftime after allowing 33 points in the second quarter, 24 of them in the paint. Minnesota shot 15-of-22 in the period.
“I mean, obviously flush it emotionally, but no, even in the first half when we’re playing well, we give them a couple easy baskets by falling asleep on defense,” May said. “And those are the ones where if you’re gonna give them those types of baskets and then they’re gonna be making the step-back threes, then you’re in a tough spot. You can’t give them the baskets off of your mistakes.”
“You gotta find a way to make them earn all of them, like Melo and Bones and those guys, they earn them individually, one-on-one with great play,” May continued. “But it’s the others that we can’t get hustled, we can’t get outhustled. We can’t have numbers break turnovers, things like that.”
On 3-pointers overall, Minnesota scored 1.406 points per shot on 32 attempts, according to Synergy Sports data. Dallas scored 0.813 on 48.
Dallas continues its road trip Saturday against the Cleveland Cavaliers, with tip-off at 6:30 p.m. CT, before visiting the Boston Celtics on Sunday at 5 p.m. CT.
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