Mavericks at Minnesota Timberwolves
(7 p.m. Friday, Target Center, Minneapolis)
TV: Fox Sports Southwest
Radio: ESPN 103.3 FM (Univision 1270 AM, Spanish)
About the Mavericks (22-19): This is the finale of a three-game trip that started with a split of games in Portland. It’s also the fourth time the Mavericks will have a chance to improve to four games over .500 for the first time this season . . . The Mavericks go into the game just one-half game behind San Antonio for the Southwest Division lead . . . The Mavericks had two off days for the first time since the All-Star break and they won’t have another two-day break until April 9-10 . . . Rick Carlisle explained the break and how he balances work vs. rest: “Yesterday (Monday) was a travel day, nothing yesterday. Today we wanted to get a sweat but not grind too hard and work on things we needed to work on so we feel like we accomplished what we needed to.” . . . And as for the Wolves, he said: “Tomorrow is one of many, many, many important games down the stretch. Minnesota’s a team that’s playing better. They’ve beaten some quality teams the last week, week and a half. You got to respect the talent with (Karl-Anthony) Towns, (Anthony) Edwards has really amped up his game and (Ricky) Rubio is always a factor. We’re going to have our hands full.” . . . The Mavericks have not been four games over .500 all season but will try to reach that plateau for the fourth time . . . The Mavericks, who will return to Minnesota for the regular-season finale on May 16, already have a 127-122 victory over the Wolves in Dallas in early February. Kristaps Porzingis had 27 points and 13 rebounds in that game and Tim Hardaway Jr. had 24 points off the bench.
About the Timberwolves (10-33): They own the worst record in the NBA, but they have won three of their last seven games, including very nice wins against Portland and Phoenix . . . This is the second of a four-game home stand that started with a 112-103 loss to Oklahoma City . . . High-scoring guard D’Angelo Russell is out with a leg injury . . . Karl-Anthony Towns averages 23.8 points and 10.2 rebounds while also making nearly 39 percent of his 3-point shots . . . Malik Beasley averages 20.5 points per game and went off for 30 points, nine rebounds and six assists in the loss at Dallas . . . The Wolves, who are 28th in the league in defensive field-goal percentage (.48.0) and points allowed (117.1) do have an intriguing rookie in top overall draft pick Anthony Edwards. The 6-4 guard is averaging 16.7 points, although his shooting is hovering around 39 percent. He had 22 points in the game at Dallas . . . Since 2003-04, when Kevin Garnett was their stud, the Wolves have made the playoffs just once – the 2017-18 season when Jimmy Butler led then-young players Towns and Andrew Wiggins to the postseason.
Twitter: @ESefko
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