DALLAS, TEXAS — The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves at home 127-122 capturing their first two game winning streak since late January.
The word to describe the Mavericks offense is fluid. It seemed like it was all too easy to score from different places on the court, and Dallas’s assist numbers for the night reflected that.
Dallas converted on 65% of their shots from the field, knocked down 50% of their shots from beyond the arc and notched 12 first quarter assists. Kristaps Porzingis put on a performance equivalent to what he was doing in the bubble scoring three of the Mavericks first buckets and finished the first quarter shooting 71% from the field and 75% from three while scoring 15 points. Tim Hardaway Jr made it happen off the bench off the bench for the Mavericks and shot 80% from the field and 66% from three.
The entire team was dialed in and their offensive dominance was matched with the same intensity on the other end leading to an early double digit 43-22 lead to end the first quarter.
Quietly, Dallas has made improvements to different aspects of their game since their poor performance in January. In the last 5 games of January the Mavericks averaged 23 points in the first quarter and in their first 5 games of February the Mavericks averaged 32 points in the first quarter, which proves how much they have turned it around offensively.
The Mavericks offense remained as efficient as they were in the first quarter making most of their bacon in the paint. The “Bench Mob” set fire to a Mavericks offense that was already thriving in the first quarter and they just added more fuel. Trey Burke added 5 points to the mix, Tim Hardaway Jr scored 6 points, and Dwight Powell scored 4 points and shot 100% from the field converting on a combined 77% from the field. It was a full team effort from the start.
Dallas finished the first half shooting 59% of their shots with three players finishing in double figures and led the game into halftime 71-51, which is the second time in February they have scored more than 70 points in a half. The Mavericks found their groove and played like a team that was hungry to grab their second consecutive win over the course of three games.
There was a small stint entering the third quarter where the Mavericks offense began to slow. The Mavericks were outworked from the floor as the Timberwolves finished the third quarter with better shooting performance from the field. Dallas finished the third quarter converting on 41% of their shots from the field and the Timberwolves finished the third converting on 43% of their shots from the field finishing the third quarter with a 95-77 lead.
The Mavericks offense continued to thrive in the distribution department, inching closer to one of their best nights in assists totals for the entire season recording 22 assists through three quarters of play.
Dallas had another sub par shooting performance in the fourth quarter only knocking down 4 of their 12 shot attempts and the Timberwolves took advantage of the right time to creep back into the game. The 20 point lead the Mavericks once held was chopped down a 10 point lead with less than 6 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter making things uncomfortable and interesting heading down the stretch.
Minnesota challenged Dallas in every way making several attempts to steal momentum away to make a push towards the Mavericks lead, and finally got the break they were looking for going on a 10-0 run to bring the Mavericks lead to within 3 points after Dallas led by more than 10 points for the entire game. Josh Richardson and his late game heroics put the Mavericks up by 5 again after a big time 9 foot step back jumper and knocked down a pair of free throws to secure the Mavericks win.
Dallas had another night where multiple players finished in double figures and finished the night shooting more than 50% from the field and 35% from three and improved to 3-2 in the month of February and won two games consecutively for the first time since late January.
This win was definitely a morale booster for the Mavericks after having a stellar offensive outing in their last two games. If Dallas can continue to play this well offensively and fix their late game defensive issues, this Mavericks team could catch fire and make the best out of their home stand.
