Timberwolves Wrap: Wolves hang on, beat Mavericks

The Timberwolves won their second game in a row as they held on to win in ugly fashion over the Mavericks on Friday night in Dallas.

A win is a win is a win.

Never has that phrase rang more true than it did on Friday night for the Timberwolves and their fans.

After slogging through losses to Memphis on Monday and a narrow victory over Atlanta on Wednesday, the Wolves played their third consecutive game against a tanking cellar-dweller. And they also played their third consecutive close game.

Minnesota didn’t have a lead in the game until the third quarter, and after building a double-digit lead in the middle stages of the fourth frame, the Wolves allowed the Mavericks to climb back to within one possession down the stretch.

Until Jamal Crawford began making contested jumpers seemingly every time down the court and Dennis Smith Jr. started bullying his way into the paint against Andrew Wiggins in response did it feel like there was much in the way of NBA-caliber basketball happening at American Airlines center on Friday night.

The game was hideous, no matter how you slice it. The Wolves shot just 42.2 percent from the floor on the night, but if you take out Crawford’s 11-for-18, they shot only 36.9 percent.

Karl-Anthony Towns missed his first few shots from the field and finished 8-for-21 including 1-of-7 from beyond the arc, although he did manage a 21-point, 20-rebound game. Andrew Wiggins had an awful night, scoring eight points on 4-of-17 shooting while only pitching in with four rebounds and three assists.

The Wolves defense was okay in this one, but the Mavs scoring only 92 points was more a function of them being a 23-win team having three or four painfully young players on the court at any given time than Minnesota playing lockdown ‘D’.

Minnesota’s offense was awful. It was stagnant early, leading to isolation possessions that saw Wiggins force off-balance shot attempts or Jeff Teague/Tyus Jones end up in a tough spot as the shot clock wound down. After only making two 3-pointers in the first half, the Wolves loosened up their offense in the second half, finally getting the ball to Nemanja Bjelica and letting Crawford get hot from the field.

With losses from Oklahoma City and New Orleans on the same night, the Wolves vaulted from No. 7 in the West up to No. 5, and just a half-game behind San Antonio for the No. 4 spot and the first-round home court advantage that comes along with it. While this was absolutely an ugly win, the Wolves will take anything they can get at this point.

Late March/early April NBA basketball is typically a slog, and this game was the epitome of such a description.

Tweet of the Night

Player of the Game

Jamal Crawford: 24 points (11-18 FG, 2-5 3P), 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals

Crawford scored a season-high in points exactly when his team needed it.

One of the biggest drawbacks to Crawford’s game is how much he enjoys taking his opponents one-on-one off the dribble; he can be a huge ball-stopper, which is almost never a good thing. But on Friday in Dallas, the ball was stopping anyways, and it was stopping in the hands of players (i.e. Wiggins) who were painfully ineffective.

In a weird way, this type of game is exactly the type of situation in which Crawford is needed the most. In terms of isolation play, Crawford remains one of the best players in the NBA at getting a jumper off while being tightly covered — even at 38 years of age.

With the Wolves only up two with under 30 seconds remaining, Crawford lulled the Dallas defense to sleep and hit a tough, contested mid-range jumper to put the Wolves up by two possessions with only a few seconds left on the clock, all but sealing the game.

Notable Timberwolves Box Score Lines

• Karl-Anthony Towns: 21 points (8-21 FG, 1-7 3P, 4-4 FT), 20 rebounds, one steal, one assist, one block
• Jeff Teague: 14 points (3-6 FG, 2-4 3P, 6-6 FT), 4 rebounds, 2 assists, one block
• Taj Gibson: 12 points (5-10 FG, 0-1 3P, 2-3 FT), 6 rebounds, 2 steals, one assist
• Andrew Wiggins: 8 points (4-17 FG, 0-2 3P), 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks
• Tyus Jones: 8 points (2-4 FG, 1-3 3P, 3-4 FT), 4 assists, one steal

Next: Timberwolves Power Rankings: KAT is breaking records

What’s Next?

The Timberwolves will head back home to host the Utah Jazz on Sunday at 6 p.m. CT. The Jazz won on Friday, beating Memphis and moving into a seventh-place tie in the West with the Pelicans. Utah is only a half-game behind the Wolves, but a win in Minnesota on Sunday would secure the tie-breaker for the Timberwolves over the Jazz.