The Dallas Mavericks fell victim to a barrage of three-pointers enabling the Minnesota Timberwolves to prevail 99-82. Minnesota closed the game out on a 15-0 run over the final 4:50 seconds of the game.
For a brief time during the fourth quarter, it looked like Dallas was going to be able to overtake Minnesota. Dirk Nowitzki's jumper with 5:35 remaining pulled the Mavericks to within 84-82 then Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio went to work. Love made two consecutive threes to stretch the lead back to 90-82. Ricky Rubio set up Anthony Tolliver for two more long-distance buckets and the Timberwolves were rolling to their first victory of the season.
After not doing much in the first half, Dirk Nowitzki scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half. He looked like he was going to will Dallas to victory before Love answered back. Dallas once again struggled rebounding with the Timberwolves beating the Mavericks up on the boards by a count of 54-35. Dallas also turned the ball over 17 times and allowed 17 offensive rebounds to the Wolves.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 21 points to lead the Mavericks. Delonte West chipped in 13 points while Jason Terry added 10 off the bench. Kevin Love had a big night for Minnesota finising with 25 points and 17 rebounds including 5-6 shooting from three-point range. Ricky Rubio finished with 14 points and seven assists While Anthony Tolliver added 13.
The Dallas Mavericks are looking for their second consecutive win of the season after dropping their previous three games but find themselves trailing the Minnesota Timberwolves 50-41 at halftime.
The Mavericks struggled to find a rhythm offensively in the first half thanks to 10 first half turnovers. Dallas hit just under 38 percent of their field goal attempts and were just 2-12 from three-point range. Delonte West and Brendan Haywood lead the Mavericks with six points each. Dirk Nowitzki is off to a slow start with four points and is just 2-9 from the field in the first half.
Former Mavericks guard J.J. Barea came off the bench to lead the Timberwolves with eight points. Luke Ridnour and Darko Milicic each ended the first half with seven points. Kevin Love scored six points but grabbed nine rebounds in the opening half. Ricky Rubio finished the half with two points and two assists while missing all three of his field goal attempts.
The Mavericks have struggled this season on the boards and the Timberwolves are off to a 27-22 lead in the first half. Minnesota also held a 9-3 advantage in offensive rebounds.
"We knew it would happen, it was just a matter of time," said Jason Terry, who scored 10 of his 17 points in the third quarter as Dallas erased a seven-point deficit. "... Now that we know how we have to play, we're a confident team."
Sunday night, the Mavericks will look to capture their second win of the season against a Minnesota team that despite being 0-3 has shown significant improvement over last season.
The Dallas Mavericks look to build off their first victory of the season when they travel to the Target Center to take on Kevin Love and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
