Minnesota Timberwolves cruise to comfortable 90-82 victory over Dallas Mavericks – NBA Recap
The Minnesota Timberwolves travelled to the American Airlines Center to take on the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night as they looked to improve to a 5-2 record, and had help from a number of players as they were able to put away
the Mavericks 90-82. In the absence of Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio, the Wolves played good team basketball and had contributions from a number of players as they were able to secure the victory. Nikola Pekovic had a team high 20 points and 6 rebounds for the
Wolves, where as veteran forward Andrei Kirilenko finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds on the night. Darren Collison led the Mavericks in scoring with 21 points and 5 assists, as the Mavericks continue to play without their franchise player Dirk Nowitzki.
Minnesota got off to a great start and a three pointer by Kirilenko put them up 12-7, but the Mavericks came back with back to back jump shots by O.J. Mayo and Brandan Wright to trail by 1. The Wolves then went on an 11-2 run that
was capped off by a three pointer by Luke Ridnour and took a 23-13 lead, as the Mavericks struggled to find their offence. The Wolves led 25-17 at the end of the first period.
Back to back field goals opened the period for the Wolves and extended their lead to 29-17, but the Mavericks scored the next six points and had the lead down to 29-23. Mayo then hit a three pointer and Bernard James followed with
a layup as the Mavs trailed by only three points. However, the Wolves were consistent in their scoring and seven straight points by them brought their lead back to 41-30. The Wolves led 45-39 at the half time break.
A layup by Pekovic early in the third period put the Wolves up 49-39, and Pekovic scored a finger roll later in the period to have Minnesota leading 61-49. The Mavericks struggled to find offence, but managed to finish the period
on a 7-2 run to remain competitive and reduce the Wolves lead to 66-58.
Two three throws by Alexey Shved in the final period put the Wolves up 76-63, but the Mavericks refused to go away and put together a 6-0 run to cut the Wolves lead down to 85-78. However, the Wolves held on comfortably and won
90-82 in the end.
Luke Ridnour had 15 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists for the Wolves, while Alexey Shved finished with 16 points and 5 assists where as Dante Cunningham scored 14 points and 8 rebounds off the bench. Chris Kaman added 12 points
and 5 rebounds off the bench for the Mavericks. The Wolves outscored the Mavericks 49-35 in rebounds, but committed 17 turnovers compared to only 8 by Dallas. The Wolves also shot 46.2 percent from the field, much better than the 36.2 percent that the Mavericks
shot.
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