The Mavericks had one of those rare frosty shooting nights Thursday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Maybe they could have overcome that.
But not when it was paired with a terrible rebounding night.
That was a deadly combination for the Mavericks, who saw their four-game winning streak go belly-up as the Wolves took charge in the second half and scored a 119-101 victory at American Airlines Center.
Luka Dončić did what he could with his typically monstrous game, but the Mavericks ran out of helpers as the injuries continue to leave them shorthanded.
They fell to 15-9 while the Western Conference-leading Timberwolves rebounded from a loss in New Orleans with a strong showing to move to 18-5.
The Wolves got had the Mavericks on their heels after halftime. They heated up from beyond the arc and their defense was impeccable.
The Mavericks had a rare quarter when they did not make a three-pointer in the third frame. That gave Minnesota the opening to move ahead by five at the end of the quarter and a few moments into the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves’ lead was up to 94-84.
The Mavericks could never make a serious dent in that gap.
“You got to know who you are,” coach Jason Kidd said. “And this is who we are. We can create a lot of threes. We got guys that are very dominant in the sense of getting two (defenders) on the ball and (that’s) advantage basketball. There are going to be nights when they don’t fall. But if we can continue to be consistent with being able to create those shots, then I think the analytics will tell you that you’ll probably win more than you lose. But there are going to be nights when it just doesn’t drop.”
Luka was 2-of-7, Grant Williams was 1-0f-7 and Tim Hardaway Jr. was 0-of-7.
“It’s just one of those nights,” Kidd said. “We got great looks. Timmy’s 0-for-7. When you look at the guys who got looks, they didn’t go down for us tonight. So we can’t be discouraged. There’s a lot of positive things. Minnesota’s the best team in the league and we felt we were playing well. Give them credit. But again, we had some great looks.”
For the game, the Mavericks were 7-of-32 from three-point range (21.9 percent). The Wolves, meanwhile, did a pretty fair Maverick impersonation by hitting 14 of 31 from beyond the arc for 45.2 percent.
Karl-Anthony Towns wound up with a terrific night, piling up 21 points and 17 rebounds.
Luka was awesome, too, with 39 points, 13 assists and six rebounds. But the help wasn’t there on this night.
The final rebounding numbers were Minnesota 45, Mavericks 34. But it seemed much worse than that.
And the Mavericks remained without Kyrie Irving (heel), Josh Green (elbow), Maxi Kleber (toe) and Seth Curry (illness).
The fact that the Mavericks had an uncharacteristic 15 turnovers (eight by Luka) didn’t help matters.
And there was more bad news when Luka picked up a quick technical foul late in the first quarter for clapping at referee Jacyn Goble.
Luka said he was confused by the situation, and the fact that it came after he had a three-pointer rescinded after the fact when reviews showed he stepped out of bounds.
“That I can’t clap,” Dončić said of what the refs told him. “I’m serious. It’s crazy. And they took away my three. Like now, you can go back? They said I was out of bounds. If the refs don’t call it they can go back and check? It was the first time I’ve seen that, so I don’t understand.”
Kidd said it’s a matter of learning what referees call technicals quickly or not so quickly.
“I’m not concerned,” he said. “We all understand what that number is (each player is allowed 16 before receiving a suspension). This one was quick. Every crew is different. We have to be better. It was a quick T. We just got to figure out what’s right and what’s wrong. The clap, a lot of players do it. Some are called for a T, some aren’t. Just being consistent, that’s all.
We probably got to a better scouting report on each official. It’s part of the game, understanding who’s quick to blow the whistle on a T and who’s not.”
But the Mavericks also had a lot going their way in the first half. The Wolves came in with the NBA’s best overall defensive rating, but you wouldn’t know it by the first half, when the Mavericks were shooting briskly and led throughout.
When Rudy Gobert picked up his third foul with still more than seven minutes left in the second quarter, that didn’t help the Wolves’ cause.
Oddly enough, it was shortly after that when the Wolves went on a 10-0 surge to tie it at 48. From there, it was a grind for both teams but at least the Mavericks got to the break with a 60-59 edge.
The Wolves had to feel good about their situation, given that Anthony Edwards, their high-scoring guard, had just six points at halftime on 2-of-11 shooting. Derrick Jones Jr. did a commendable job all night, limiting Edwards to nine points on 3-of-19 shooting.
X: @ESefko
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