When the evening starts with a seldom-seen NBA rain delay, you know some weird stuff is going to happen.
When Luka Dončić, one of the NBA’s best scorers and an MVP candidate, has eight turnovers and only five shots go through the net, you get confirmation that the night is going to be strange.
Which was just fine with the Mavericks, who survived a lot of craziness, including the frantic final seconds when they were trying to hold on for dear life, as they edged the Minnesota Timberwolves 110-108 Monday night at American Airlines Center.
On a night when five Mavericks scored as many or more points as Dončić did, they stopped their two-game losing skid that ended their recent five-game trip.
Dončić found Dorian Finney-Smith in the right corner for a 3-pointer with 1:14 to play that put the Mavericks up 107-103. Karl-Anthony Towns kept the Timberwolves in it with a dunk, but then Reggie Bullock nailed a 3-pointer with 40 seconds to go to make it 110-105. Those 3-pointers were morsels of normalcy on a night that was anything but run-of-the-mill.
Except for the grit and moxie the Mavericks showed. That’s become pretty commonplace when the game is on the line.
“I don’t think anyone panics,” coach Jason Kidd said. “Offensively, we know what we’re trying to get to. And then defensively, it’s about getting the rebound and that’s probably one area we have to clean up. The assignments are clear. Their role is clear and they execute and it’s fun to see.
“When we have to get a stop, we find a way to get a stop. And then on the offensive end, Luka finds the right guy or he takes a wide-open shot.”
Finding guys wasn’t a problem on Monday. Making any shot proved challenging, though. Dončić was 5-of-17 from the field. He did not score in the first quarter. And six of his eight turnovers came in the first half.
And yet, they found a way.
“It speaks to the resolve,” said Spencer Dinwiddie, who had 20 points off the bench. “Obviously, we trust Luka 1,000 percent. We know to be our best, he has to be at a high level. But it also is good every now and then if he does have an off night to have enough resolve as a unit to get a win against a quality opponent.”
The Mavericks (44-28) didn’t necessarily put the Timberwolves behind them for good in the Western Conference standings. But they are in excellent position to avoid the play-in tournament, where the Wolves (42-31) currently find themselves.
And doing it with Luka struggling seemed to give an extra bit of satisfaction.
Six Mavericks scored 15 points or more, the first time that’s happened since April 23, 1989. Dwight Powell hit all eight of his shots and had 22 points to lead the Mavericks in scoring for the first time this season.
We told you it was an unusual night.
“First of all, even though he (Luka) didn’t necessarily score at the clip he normally does, he still created massive problems for their defense,” Powell said. “He found open guys. He maybe didn’t knock down all the shots, but he was disrupting their defense.
“But in terms of guys stepping up, it’s important that we continue to develop and find ways to put the ball in the basket even when certain guys aren’t making shots.”
More strange times? A lot of it happened in the game’s final dozen seconds.
Down by five, the Wolves’ D’Angelo Russell’s two free throws made it a three-point game and the Mavericks couldn’t score.
When longtime Mavericks’ nemesis Patrick Beverley was fouled before getting off a shot, he missed the first free throw, then missed the second on purpose with six seconds left. The Wolves got the rebounds, but a video review showed that the Mavericks did not commit a foul.
The Wolves couldn’t get a shot off on the final possession before the Mavericks fouled to prevent what could have been a tying 3-pointer.
It was a stressful finish, for sure.
“It’s a tough situation,” Powell said. “There’s going to be a lot of bang-bang stuff at that time of the game. And our guys did a great job of playing in the moment. It can get difficult to stay focused at that time. There’s a lot going on. To know when to foul and when to ease off and to be careful not to give an opportunity for a potential four-point play is huge and our guys did a great job of that down the stretch.”
It finished off a night that was wild from the start, thanks to the weather.
The nasty storms that blew through the Dallas area on Monday evening caused nearly a 20-minute delay to the start of the game.
The drip-drip-drip was near the Minnesota bench and towels were spread out to catch the moisture. Eventually, the weather outside AAC subsided and the game began just a minute or two before 8 p.m., about 20 minutes after regularly scheduled.
Said Dinwiddie of the rain delay: “I can’t remember another one. I’ve noticed that Dallas doesn’t handle weather very well. I have definitely noticed that. We have a grand total of one inch of snow and Uber drivers are calling and saying: I don’t feel safe driving in this.”
Twitter: @ESefko
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