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Final: Mavs 98, Wolves 87

Box Score | Highlights

Behind the Box Score

The Mavericks scored 1.167 points per possession in the first half. The league-wide average always hovers somewhere around 1.03 PPP, so that means the Dallas offense was absolutely sizzling in the first two frames, en route to 56 points. It’s the second straight game the Mavs have scored at least that many points in the first act. The big catalyst today was free throw attempts — Dallas took 17 free throws as a team in the first two quarters, which is as many or more as they’d taken in their previous four games. When you can get that many attempts from the charity stripe, the points are going to come efficiently.

Dirk Nowitzki enjoyed his third straight game with at least three 3-pointers. That’s tied for the second-longest streak of his NBA career, with his longest, four games, coming in November 2001. Even at age 38, Nowitzki is doing things he hasn’t done in some time. He also moved into ninth place all-time in minutes played, at 47,620.

Notebook

  • The second quarter belonged to Dirk Nowitzki. The highlight reel below pretty much says it all, and his final shot approaching Steph Curry range sent the AAC into a frenzy.

    Dirk has now had two pretty efficient scoring nights in a row, counting back to the Mavs’ win in Mexico City on Thursday night. Obviously the better Nowitzki plays, the better the Mavs’ chances are of winning.

  • Dirk dunked on Thursday night, and Wesley Matthews dunked today. It was his first slam of the 2016-17 season, and it was a good one — a two-hander against Karl-Anthony Towns after a baseline drive.

    Matthews might not dunk often, but he’s so much more explosive this season than he was last season, now more than a year removed from recovering from a ruptured Achilles. Maybe the dunks will start coming more often for him.

  • Harrison Barnes has been on an offensive tear lately, and while his numbers tonight might not have dazzled the same way they have in recent contests, it should be noted that in this game he was matched up almost exclusively Towns, one of the better defenders in the league. Barnes has tremendous strength for his size, but Towns is strong, too, so Barnes found it difficult at times to create separation at the rim. Still, he reached double-figures in scoring for the 40th straight game to begin his Mavericks career. He might not score 25 every night — yet — but he can still be counted on to give you some scoring every game.

    What’s Next

    The Mavs (13-27) play the Chicago Bulls (20-21) on Tuesday at the United Center at 7 p.m. Central.

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