Kevin Love leads Minnesota Timberwolves to a 99-82 win over Dallas Mavericks - NBA Recap
Despite losing their first three games of the season, Minnesota Timberwolves have looked outstanding so far.
On Sunday night, their hard work finally paid off as they collected their first win of the season by upsetting the reigning NBA champions Dallas Mavericks, 99-82.
Timberwolves rectified the mistakes they had been committing in the clutch and put up a strong performance in the second half to complete a well deserved win. This is the team’s first win after 294 days and coach, Rick Adelman
and players were completely psyched.
"Obviously, really happy to get a win ...for the players. They've worked really hard and stayed with it all this time since we started. We responded against a very good team tonight. They made runs at us and we responded each time.
Down the stretch, I thought we executed really well and made stops when they had the ball. That's what you have to do to win games down the stretch." Rick said
Timberwolves outrebounded (54-35) the rusty Mavericks, who had just recorded their first win in four attempts against the Toronto Raptors last Friday, and were also better from the floor. The wolves shot 42.4 % in contrast to 37.7%
from the Mavs and (45.5%-29.2%) from outside the arc.
Kevin Love was phenomenal and led the Timberwolves with a game high 25 points including 5 for 6 from the downtown and 17 boards. Ricky Rubio contributed 14 and dished out 7 assists while Anthony Tolliver came off the bench and
accumulated 13.
For the Mavericks, big guy Dirk Nowitzki pounded 21 points while Delonte West added 13. Jason Terry (10) was the only other player who managed to finish with scores in double digits.
There was nothing much to differentiate between both the teams in the first half and the scores were levelled at 37 all deep into the stanza, but then, the Timberwolves changed gears and finished the first half with a 13-4 burst
to land themselves in a commanding position.
A 3-pointer by Love in the first minute of the third frame boosted the lead to double digits 53-41. Love and Co. continued the onslaught in next few minutes, and the lead reached 15 points 60-45.
Mavs however responded well by reeling off a 10-0 run and slashed the deficit to 5 points 60-55. Timberwolves maintained the 5 point lead and ended the third frame at 74-69.
In the fourth quarter, Nowitzki took charge and got the Mavs within striking distance at 82-84, midway through the deciding frame. That was the last time, they scored though as the Timberwolves finished the game with a 15-0 flush
to set up an impresive win.
Tags: