The Minnesota Timberwolves were coming into this game getting Mike Conley back into the lineup. That would be a huge boost as Minnesota has been playing without him due to injury/illness. In his absence Nickeil Alexander Walker stepped up his game big time. On the flip side the Mavericks were going to be playing against the Timberwolves without Luka Doncic, Derek Lively, and Kyrie Irving. Luka alone is a huge blow to this offense but the Mavs were going to depend on the young players to come out with a win.
The first half of this game was a battle as the Mavericks came out showing that it was going to be a tough matchup. Josh Green was able to put the Mavericks on his back as he was able to attack the paint tonight and hit some 3 pointers to help the Mavericks keep it close. Green was the leading scorer for the Mavericks finishing with 18 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist. The Mavericks were able to make it tough on the Timberwolves early as Minnesota wasn’t hitting any 3 pointers and at one point they were shooting 16%. Tonight the Timberwolves were able to focus on the paint as both Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert led the way. In the 2nd half the game got out of hand for Dallas as they weren’t able to score like they did in the first half.
The Timberwolves were able to dominate in the paint tonight with their bigs getting whatever they wanted from Dallas. The Timberwolves had 52 points in the paint and that was led by Karl-Anthony Towns who had finished with 29 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists. When KAT is playing like this the Timberwolves can do whatever they want because he’s attacking the mismatch on the inside/outside. Towns has been special this season and his playmaking ability has been impressive as well because he can get Rudy Gobert looks in his spots too. Rudy finished with 17 points and 6 rebounds. Obviously Rudy wants to make the best of the situation in the rebounding department but he will take the win every time.
The Timberwolves were able to remain #1 in the Western Conference after this win against the Mavericks but this was a true test that you can’t sleep on your opponent. The Mavs didn’t have their all stars but the Timberwolves did take care of business when they needed tonight.
Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images)
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