Minnesota Timberwolves 99, Dallas Mavericks 82

by Earl K. Sneed of Dallas Mavericks

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Earl K. Sneed reports from Minneapolis and recaps the Mavericks' New Year's Day road loss to J.J. Barea, Kevin Love, and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — “It’s gonna be kind of weird.”

After spending his first five seasons in the NBA with the Dallas Mavericks, that’s the best way former backup point guard J.J. Barea could describe being on the opposite sideline when the defending champions entered the Target Center to contend with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

As a valuable contributor in the backcourt helping the Mavericks capture the championship last season, Barea became a hot commodity on the market this offseason before signing a multi-year deal in Minnesota as a free agent. Sunday evening, the undersized guard found himself facing his former team for the first time, shaking off a minor hamstring injury and trying to lead his Wolves team to its first win of the season at the Mavs’ expense.

Meanwhile, the Mavericks tried to start 2012 in style by building off their first victory of the young season, taking the court for the third matchup in a four-in-five-nights stretch following Friday night’s 99-86 home win over Toronto. Unfortunately for the Mavs, however, Barea would be the one heading back to the winning locker room after the Wolves handed the Mavericks a 99-82 loss.

“[The Timberwolves] had a lot of guys play well,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said of the loss. “What we’re going to have to do is do a better job of not allowing guys to play well. We made some good runs, but it’s very difficult playing from behind in this league. It’s become too much of a consistent theme. We’ve got to correct it. We’ve got to be really good at the beginning of games and we have to carry it forward.”

The Mavericks (1-4) jumped out to a quick start early in the opening quarter going inside to center Brendan Haywood matched up against Darko Milicic. But when the 7-footer picked up two early fouls the Wolves battled their way back into the game with Barea providing a spark off the Minnesota bench.

Still, with Mavs reserve big man Ian Mahinmi continuing his hot play coming off a career-high 19-point night against Toronto, the Mavs ended 12 minutes of play knotted with the home team at 25-all.

The early stage of the second stanza would belong to Barea, however, penetrating into the heart of the defense for scores against Mavericks reserve Jason Terry. At the other end of the floor newcomers Vince Carter and Delonte West did their best to keep the Mavs even on the scoreboard. But the Mavs would briefly lose their cool, with fellow new addition Lamar Odom earning a technical foul call for arguing with officials, while the Wolves used a 13-2 run to head into the halftime break with a 50-41 advantage.

With leading scorer Dirk Nowitzki struggling through two quarters, going 2-for-9 from the field, the Mavs needed every bit of six points apiece from West, Carter and Haywood in the first half. Meanwhile, Barea’s eight points on 4-for-9 shooting led all scorers and Kevin Love snatched down nine rebounds at the midway mark, while the Wolves’ 40 percent shooting bettered Dallas’ 37.5 percent despite starting off 1-for-10 from 3-point range.

Minnesota’s lead only grew in the early minutes of the third period with Love hitting a 3-pointer followed by Luke Ridnour’s jumper to further handicap the Mavs until West stopped the bleeding with a driving score. The veteran guard would continue to carry the Mavs’ offensive attack while Nowitzki awakened from his sleep to get the Mavs back within an arm’s reach with a 10-0 spurt.

Turning defensive stops into easy scores on offense, the Mavs made quick work of their 15-point deficit, climbing as close as within one. But even after Odom’s 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer the Mavs still entered the final period down five, 74-69.

Whatever momentum the Mavs gained by the shot was quickly dissolved of with Ricky Rubio’s personal 5-0 run to open the fourth quarter. Suddenly again the Mavs found themselves down double digits, as the Spaniard began to assert himself from the perimeter.

But Nowitzki would not be outdone easily, bringing his team to within two with a personal 7-0 run. That is until Love swiftly responded with consecutive baskets including a step-back triple to put the Wolves (1-3) up, 90-82, with 4:07 remaining.

“All night long [Love] hit timely threes when we were making runs. He’s improved every year and he’s gotten better this year. Those things hurt us,” Carlisle admitted.

Minnesota wouldn’t look back the rest of the way, capping things off with Rubio finding Anthony Tolliver in the corner for a three to put the Mavs in a 98-82 hole with 2:01 left. With the Timberwolves finishing the game on a 15-0 run to end a nine-game losing streak to Dallas, Carlisle pulled his starters the remainder of the way in preparation for Monday night’s matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

“I think at the end of the third we just ran out of time. If there was more time we had the momentum in our favor,” Kidd explained. “But we came out to start the fourth and we were down 10-12 (points) right off the bat. We got a lot of new pieces and we’re trying to do this on the run. And so, we’re going to make mistakes and we just need to try and get better.”

The Wolves handed the Mavs their fourth loss of the season led by Love’s 25 points on 9-of-16 from the floor and 5-for-6 from 3-point range to go along with 17 rebounds. Rubio pitched in 14 points and seven assists while Barea added eight points (all in the first half) on 4-of-11 from the floor against his old team.

After his sluggish start, Nowitzki finished with a team-high 21 points on 9-of-20 shooting to lead three Mavericks in double figures. West added 13 points and Terry offered up 10 points off the bench.

In addition to a 54-35 rebounding advantage on the glass, the Wolves also outshot the Mavericks on the night, 42.4 percent to 37.7 percent. And with both teams committing 17 turnovers, Minnesota’s 10-of-22 shooting from behind the 3-point arc compared to 7-of-24 for Dallas only bolstered the home team’s separation on the scoreboard.

The Mavericks now have very little time to ponder over the loss, returning to the American Airlines Center on Monday night and trying to avenge a 104-102 last-second loss to the Thunder last Thursday.

“The games are going to keep coming. We have to address the things that need to be addressed and get ready to play the next one,” Carlisle concluded. “There’s no other thing for us to do right now. We’re still looking at different lineups, but there are no excuses … everyone has to play. We just have to play better.”

“Go out and try and take it game by game and go get ‘em,” Odom added. “All we can do now is take our time and chip away.”

Note: The team returns to Dallas to face off with the Oklahoma City Thunder Monday night, looking to avenge Thursday night’s 104-102 road loss. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-6287.

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Single-game tickets are on sale and available at the American Airlines Center North Box Office, online at mavs.com, via phone by calling 214-747-MAVS or 1-800-4NBA-TIX and all Ticketmaster outlets (Fiesta Grocery Stores, Wal-Mart, Simon Mall in Garland and the Shops at Willow Bend in Plano).

Rivalry Pack: Aside from being a season ticket holder, the only way for Mavs fans to attend either of the two Los Angeles Lakers games is through the Rivalry Pack. Tickets to the Feb.22 and March 21 games vs. the Los Angeles Lakers can be purchased as part of a three-game package that includes one of the three premium games and two additional regular season games.

RPL Nights: RPL Nights return for the sixth season and will feature special discounted tickets for 10 pre-selected games. Tickets normally priced $9 will be $2, $15 will be $10, $31 will be $20, and $42 will be $32.

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