THE Wolves were pushed around but they finally confirmed, with style in the end, their position as leaders of the Western Conference. Faced with Mavericks still deprived of Kyrie Irving, the players of Minnesota actually built their victory in two stages (119-101), against this team of Dallas with both faces.
In the first half, the Wolves did not shine in defense, even though they are second in the league in this area. Very quickly behind by 15 points against an attack from the Mavericks which was effective from the start under the impetus of a Luka Doncic stratospheric (39 points and 13 assists but 8 turnovers), Chris Finch's players nevertheless gradually caught up to get back to -1 at the break.
No doubt dissatisfied with their face on display in their own half in the first half, the visitors then returned to the boards at the American Airlines Center with much better defensive intentions. And the locals suffered: only 41 points scored on 42% shooting, compared to 60 points scored on 51% shooting in the first period.
At the same time, the Wolves attack also performed well (50% on shots including 45% at 3-points with 14 shots converted at this distance), driven by an interior duo Karl-Anthony Towns (21 points and 17 rebounds) – Naz Reid (27 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists) in great shape, while the Dallas defense was sinking. The final gap, of 18 points, ultimately perfectly reflects the nature of this unbalanced match.
To remember
– Wolves' domestic dominance. In different registers, Karl-Anthony Towns (21 points and 17 rebounds), Rudy Gobert (8 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks) and Naz Reid (27 points at 7/11 at 3-points, 6 rebounds and 3 passes) gave the Mavericks hell, in all areas. The volume of play of “KAT” in the paint against the valiant but inexperienced Dereck Lively II, the defensive protection provided by the French pivot and the distant warheads of the dynamic replacement pivot form a fatal combination for the locals. The collective ceiling of this Wolves team is very impressive at times.
– Luka Doncic, alone against the pack. Author of 39 of his team's 101 points, or… almost 40% of his team's points, the Slovenian leader from Dallas was indeed quite alone against the Wolves pack, who happily agreed to let him do everything. Without Kyrie Irving and while his main lieutenants had holes in attack (Tim Hardaway Jr. with 10 points at 4/15 on shots, Grant Williams with 5 points at 2/11 on shots), “Luka Magic” actually tried everything , in vain. The Wolves defense successfully, even forcing him to overplay at times, like these 8 ball losses.
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How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
