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MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Timberwolves scored 74 points in the paint and made 15 3-pointers on Thursday at Target Center, beating the Dallas Mavericks 133-94. The loss ended a three-game winning streak for Dallas, which fell to 7-5 in the first game of a three-game road trip.
Three nights earlier, Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving combined for 78 points in a win over the Indiana Pacers. In Minneapolis, the two finished with 22 on 9-of-23 shooting. Minnesota played again without Anthony Edwards and scored 1.147 points per possession, according to Synergy Sports data, while Dallas scored 0.790.
Minnesota’s Point-Of-Attack Pressure Stalled Cooper Flagg And Kyrie Irving
Minnesota entered Thursday first in the NBA in defensive rating, allowing 106.1 points per 100 possessions. When it kept one defender on the Dallas ball handler in pick-and-roll, the Mavericks got 0.524 points per possession on 21 trips, according to Synergy.
Across all 45 pick-and-roll possessions in which the ball handler shot, passed, or turned it over, Dallas was at 0.778. Minnesota’s own ball handlers got 1.133 on 30 such plays.
Flagg went 5-of-12 and finished with 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists in 27:22. Irving was 4-of-11 for 10 points. His minus-36 was the worst mark on either team, and neither of them played in the fourth quarter.
“They had one body on them before they even crossed half-court, and we weren’t able to get clean catches, and we weren’t able to leverage that attention to generate anything else offensively,” Mavericks coach Dusty May said. “And then their second unit really, I think, injected a lot of life into them.”
Dallas finished at 0.703 points per possession on 91 half-court trips. Minnesota’s half-court offense was at 1.136, and coming out of timeouts, the Timberwolves scored 18 points on 12 possessions. Dallas managed 0.583 per possession on its own plays out of timeouts.
By halftime, Dallas had turned it over 8 times, and Minnesota had scored 12 points off those mistakes. Naji Marshall, who finished with 13 points and 4 assists, had 2 of the first-half turnovers.
“This is what they do,” Marshall said. “It was physical at the point of attack from the beginning, and I think that’s just how we got to play.”
Minnesota led 34-26 after the first quarter. The margin was 15 at halftime, and the Timberwolves finished with 10 steals.
“I mean, we didn’t do it early enough, and they obviously just punched us in the mouth,” Marshall explained.
Synergy logged 1 Dallas possession off screens all night, and it produced no points. The Mavericks ran 6 out of handoffs. Entering Thursday, they ranked 14th in the league in pace at 99.2 possessions per 48 minutes.
“Some better screens, more pace,” Marshall said. “That’s really about it.”
Dallas Got More From Guarded Catch-And-Shoot Attempts
Dallas went 13-of-48 from 3-point range against a Minnesota team that made 15 of its 32. The Mavericks came in shooting 34.4% from deep and finished at 27.1%.
Dallas took 22 unguarded catch-and-shoot jumpers, according to Synergy, and got 15 points out of them. Its 12 guarded catch-and-shoot attempts produced 18.
All 34 of Dallas’ catch-and-shoot jumpers added up to 33 points. Minnesota got 24 points from 19.
P.J. Washington went 1-of-4 from 3-point range, Walter Clayton Jr. went 0-of-5, and Santi Aldama went 1-of-4. More than half of Dallas’ spot-up possessions, 15 of 28, came in a fourth quarter played mostly by reserves.
“I thought we were a little bit impatient once they started making shots,” May explained. “We didn’t work for great ones. We kind of settled for somewhat good ones, and then it became contagious. I thought we tried to match their play individually instead of just continuing to trust each other collectively.”
Zaccharie Risacher made 4 of his 8 attempts from deep and scored 22 points off the bench. Through his first 11 games, he had gone 9-of-36 from 3-point range.
“I felt like I was a little frustrated by my shooting this season. I didn’t feel like I was comfortable as I used to be, and I felt like just not losing confidence and keep working made that possible,” Risacher said. “I feel like it’s just like a reflection of the work I’m putting every day. And yeah, I mean, it’s a good sign.”
Minnesota Owned The Paint Even After Losing The Offensive Glass
Dallas won the paint 14-12 in the first quarter. Over the last three quarters, Minnesota outscored the Mavericks 62-28 inside and finished 37-of-54 in the paint for the night.
The Mavericks grabbed 14 offensive rebounds to Minnesota’s 8. Minnesota still won second-chance scoring 25-12, making all 10 of its second-chance field goals.
Synergy charted 13 Minnesota cuts that produced 18 points and 5 putbacks that produced 9. Dallas got 2 points from its 4 cuts.
Rudy Gobert and Joan Beringer combined for 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting, with 15 rebounds and 5 blocks. Jaden McDaniels added 16 points and 9 rebounds, 4 of them on the offensive glass.
“I think it’s just us. I don’t think we was connected tonight,” Marshall said. “I don’t think we followed the game plan well tonight. Coach put a very good game plan together for us, and I think we let that slip. So those are good players over there. They got some guys over there who do their thing. So it’s our job to stay connected and prevent stuff like that from happening.”
In the second quarter alone, Minnesota scored 24 of its 33 points in the paint. Dallas went into halftime down 67-52.
“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.”
Minnesota blocked 7 shots. Beringer had 3 of them in 22:15 off the bench.
“Are they number one in defense efficiency in the league now?” May said. “I mean, when you’re number one in this league in anything, you’re pretty proficient in that area. When you just look at their team speed and the way, the intensity that they’re playing with, and then obviously it’s a luxury to have two rim protectors behind you.”
Dallas has played all season without Dereck Lively II, who had right foot surgery. Daniel Gafford finished with 3 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 blocks in 16:20, and rookie Morez Johnson Jr. went 0-of-4 in 13:27.
Dusty May Criticized Dallas’ Response To Runs
Minnesota scored 15 of the last 17 points of the first quarter. Bones Hyland checked in with 4:34 left and Dallas ahead 20-16, and he scored 8 points over the final 3:50.
In the second quarter, the Mavericks turned a 41-31 deficit into a 43-42 game with an 11-2 run. Risacher started it with a putback, and Aldama replaced Gafford with 8:51 left, joining Clayton, Risacher, Caleb Martin, and Flagg. Risacher capped the run with a dunk off a Flagg steal with 6:53 left.
“We brought in our small-ball lineup and was able to make a run, and then we weren’t able to really sustain that with the same type of play,” May said. “I thought that was big, because if we could’ve really sustained that moment and played, then it could’ve been at least more interesting, closer to half. But once they called timeout, they answered that run.”
Minnesota closed the half on a 24-10 run and opened the third on a 10-1 run. From 43-42 through the end of the third quarter, the Timberwolves outscored Dallas 60-27.
Hyland finished with 24 points, 3 rebounds, and 8 assists and went 5-of-6 from deep. LaMelo Ball had 22 points and 9 assists, hitting 6 of 10 3-point attempts, and Minnesota scored 26 fast-break points.
“The most disappointing, just the way we responded to the runs, it was probably the thing that was most disappointing,” May said. “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.
Thursday was the first game of the trip. Dallas came in with two days off after a back-to-back that ended with Monday’s win over Indiana, and it had gone 5-2 at home and 2-2 on the road.
“Bodies started to get tired, and we just got to lock in as a team,” Marshall said. “Got to bring it every night, because we haven’t done nothing yet. It was good to get better from last season, and win some games early, but we still got to lock in every day and bring that energy.”
Dallas visits the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday, with tip-off at 6:30 p.m. CT, and the Boston Celtics on Sunday at 5 p.m. CT.
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