The Mavericks faced the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday in Dallas with significant playoff implications on the line.
After the All-Star break, Minnesota was the best team in the NBA with an 11-2 record, which brought them to 1.5 games back of Dallas for fifth place in the Western Conference.
With ten games remaining, the two teams knew a win was crucial to improve their playoff seeding.
“There’s teams chasing us, and we’re chasing teams,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. “And that’s the fun part of this time of year. From mid-March to April 10 (the regular-season finale), this is the fun part before the playoffs start.”
However, the teams had to wait longer than expected to see how the critical game would play out.
A leak at the American Airlines Center delayed the start of the action by 15 minutes. Water from the leak, falling near the Timberwolves bench, had to be dried by arena workers as players continued their pregame shooting warmups. A result of severe thunderstorms in the area, the dripping finally stopped as the heavy storms moved past Dallas.
The interruption momentarily postponed a game that was well worth the wait, with a wild finish that culminated in a 110-108 win for Dallas.
The victory extends the Mavericks’ lead over seventh-place Minnesota to 2.5 games and keeps them within one game of the fourth-place Utah Jazz.
“It’s mid- or late March, and we understand what’s at stake,” Kidd said. “Minnesota’s a very good team. They’re hot.”
After two narrow wins over Boston and Brooklyn last week, Dallas again had to rally in the clutch to secure the win.
The Mavericks held a 99-92 lead with just over six minutes remaining before the Timberwolves went on an 11-1 run to take their first lead since the second quarter at 100-103 with 3:23 left.
Dallas remained calm and collected. Despite Luka Doncic being held to 15 points, making 5-of-17 shot attempts, he still had a double-double by adding 10 assists.
His supporting cast also gave an excellent performance, as the Mavericks had five further players score 15 or more points. It was the first time since April 4, 1989, that the Mavericks had six players with at least 15 points in a game.
“I think it speaks to maturity,” said Spencer Dinwiddie, who scored 20 points off the bench. “I think it speaks to resolve.”
“Obviously, we trust Luka 1000%. We know to be our best selves, he has to be at a high level. But it also is good, every now and then, if he does have an off night, to have enough resolve as a unit to get a win against a quality opponent,” added Dinwiddie.
Dorian Finney-Smith brought the Timberwolves’ three-point lead down to one for the Mavericks with a layup that just beat the shot-clock buzzer. Doncic then added a running layup to give Dallas back the lead at 104-103 with 2:09 remaining.
Minnesota’s Jaylen Nowell missed a point-blank range layup on their next possession. The Timberwolves defense then forced Doncic into a tough three-point shot with the shot clock expiring that was off the mark.
However, Finney-Smith gathered the offensive rebound and passed it back to Doncic. After dribbling some time off the clock, Doncic then kicked it back to Finney-Smith, who hit a three-point shot to give Dallas a 107-103 lead with 1:14 remaining. Finney-Smith finished with 15 points and seven rebounds.
Dallas played excellent defense on the Timberwolves All-Star power forward Karl-Anthony Towns, who earned the Western Conference Player of the Week award for games played from March 14-20.
Towns averaged 38.3 points and 12 rebounds per game for the week, exploding for 60 points and 17 rebounds to set the Timberwolves’ single-game scoring record in a March 14 win against San Antonio.
Against the Mavericks on Monday, Towns had only 22 points and eight rebounds, matching Dallas’ power forward Dwight Powell’s 22 points. Towns connected on a dunk with one minute remaining to bring Minnesota within two points of Dallas, 107-105.
Reggie Bullock iced the game with a clutch three-point shot to give Dallas a 110-105 lead on the ensuing Dallas possession. It was Bullock’s first game back from a four-game absence due to personal reasons. He finished with 18 points.
The Timberwolves added two free throws by D’Angelo Russell and then had one last possession to tie the game with a three-pointer. However, Doncic fouled Minnesota’s Patrick Beverley before he could attempt a three-pointer to send him to the line for two free-throw attempts.
Beverley missed both free throws but got his own rebound. Another foul was called against Doncic that would have sent Beverley back to the line for two more attempts, but Dallas challenged the call and it was reversed, resulting in a jump ball at midcourt.
Towns out-jumped Maxi Kleber for the ball, which Beverley collected. Doncic again fouled him before he could attempt a potential game-tying three-point shot with 2.5 seconds remaining. Beverley made the first free throw but intentionally missed the second; time expired as players jostled for the loose ball.
“We talked about what we needed to do, and Luka executed the foul out of that jump ball,” Kidd said. “Because if he doesn’t, the way things go, Bev makes the 3.”
The win gives the Mavericks (44-28) a 2-1 record against the Timberwolves (42-31) this season, with the fourth and final meeting between the two teams scheduled for March 25 in Minnesota. If Dallas wins, they will clinch the season series and hold the tiebreaker for playoff seeding if both teams finish with identical records.
