Jason Terry (31) led the Mavericks' superb bench effort against Darko Milicic (31) and the Timberwolves in a game that shouldn't have been this close. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)It seemed like a good night for Jason Kidd to get a rest, against the worst team in the Western Conference and with Dallas having won 12 of the last 13 games against the T-Wolves, but it was almost a nightmare scenario for the Mavs.
The Dallas Mavericks (41-21) largest lead in the final quarter over the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves (14-48) was only four as the home-team kept allowing the T-Wolves to hang around. The Mavs led by as many as 12 points with 3:06 left in the third (89-77), but a 10-0 run to end the quarter and 4-2 run to start the fourth made it 91-91 with 11:00 to go.
The Dallas defense was non-existent throughout. The Mavs allowed Minnesota to shoot 53 percent from the field (they are 24th in the NBA for the season, shooting 45 percent) as the Timberwolves scored over 100 points for only the second time in their past 11 games. Corey Brewer led Minnesota with 24 points, rookie Jonny Flynn chipped in 19 points and Kevin Love scored 14 points and had 14 rebounds off the bench.
"They are a spunky team," said Shawn Marion, becoming the first person to use the word "spunky" in a sentence in at-least 15 years. "We had them on their heels and we should have put them on their backs."
Luckily for the Mavs, even without Jason Kidd in the lineup they were still able to have their way with Minnesota on the offensive end. Jason Terry (game-high 26 points) and Rodrigue Beaubois (career-high 17 points) were major contributors off the bench. As the only two Dallas reserves to score, Roddy B and J.E.T outscored the entire T-Wolves bench (five players) 43-35. As a team the Mavericks shot 50 percent from the floor and 53 percent from behind the arc, led by Terry's 5-8 night, and the duo of Beaubois and JET combined to go 15-27 from the field and 8-11 from deep.
Even though a re-invigorating eight-game winning streak almost became a demoralizing loss to the worst team in the West, Dallas was able to pull this one out. Minnesota has shown that they play Dallas well and are not a team to be overlooked by this Mavericks' team, especially after the 117-108 embarrassment that happened in Dallas on Feb. 4.
"They bring out the best in us. It's a really good matchup for us," said Flynn, who has averaged 16 points in three games against the Mavs this season. "But we turned the ball over too much."
Dallas benefited from many bone-head plays from Minnesota as poor dribbling led to balls being bounced off feet and wildly thrown passes soaring out-of-bounds culminated in 20 T-Wolves turnovers and 29 points for the Mavs. It was ugly as hell, but it still goes down as Dallas' ninth straight win. Let's just hope J-Kidd doesn't have any more rest days planned in the near future - no matter how shitty the opponent is.
Dirk's "Off Night"
Dirk Nowitzki had his lowest scoring total in the last 10 games as he missed his first four shots from the field and had only six points going into halftime. Nowitzki rebounded in the second half, after missing his first basket, and made six of his last 10 shots.
While it wasn't the All-NBA level we have been spoiled by, especially in the past 10 games, any other player on the courts sans JET and Corey Brewer would have gladly taken Dirk's 22 point, five rebound, three assists night.
Terry's Gets Popped In Face, Called For A Foul
Could someone explain to me why Ramon Sessions can elbow Jason Terry in the face and, not only does he not get called for an offensive foul, but JET gets called for a blocking foul?
Terry was forced to leave the game, but did return in the fourth to score seven points. His teammates feel that he will be fine and ready to go for Friday's game against the Kings.
"He's tough, he'll be alright," said Nowitzki.
Terry is the only Mavericks player to have played in all 62 games this season.
(BREAKING - I spoke too soon, reports Thursday say that JET will have to have surgery. It's not known yet how long he will be out.)
Whats Next
The Sacramento Kings come to town Friday night for the start of yet another back-to-back for Dallas.
The Kings are 21-40 this season, but have won three of their last four and are 3-3 in their last six road games. Overall, Sacramento is only 6-26 on the road this season, fourth worst in the NBA.
The Mavericks have beaten the Kings twice already this season, but only by a combined 10 points.
Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m. and can be seen locally on Fox Sports Southwest
News and Notes:
- Al Jefferson, Minnesota's leading scorer, was suspended for Wednesday's game due to a DWI last week.
- Former Mavericks player Ryan Hollins scored six of the T-Wolves first seven points and finished with 14 points and seven rebounds on 6-7 shooting. Though, Hollins had the worst +/- of any player on the court at -17.
- Tonight was Dirk Nowitzki's 900th game, all with the Mavericks.
(Portions of this article was taken from The Associated Press)
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