MINNEAPOLIS – The Mavericks had a heck of a starting lineup on their injured list Wednesday night.
In fact, it’s a lineup coach Jason Kidd has been waiting to see. And waiting. And continuing to wait.
Luka Dončić was back in Dallas nursing a sprained right ankle. So was Dereck Lively II (broken nose). Kyrie Irving was in street clothes on the bench as his sprained right thumb heals. So were Dante Exum (knee) and Derrick Jones Jr. (wrist).
“Someone said it’s our starting five,” Kidd said before the Mavericks’ 121-87 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. “It’s part of the season, unfortunately. Hopefully we get those guys back soon.”
Without them, the Mavericks put together a patchwork lineup that pushed the Wolves for a half, then fell behind by double figures in the third quarter and the game slipped away quickly after that.
The fight was there. But the shortage of bodies took an obvious toll. Karl-Anthony Towns was solid all night, but was most effective in the third quarter when he showed the whole package – getting to the rim and hitting three-pointers. Towns finished with 29 points and nine rebounds.
“That’s just the nature of this beast right now,” Kidd said afterward. “We’re just going to piece this thing together until we can get healthy. Hopefully that’s sooner than later. Our health is a big problem right now.”
The Mavericks still were down by 13 going into the fourth quarter and quickly grew to 94-70 with just over eight minutes to go. The Wolves were milking their size advantage with Towns and Rudy Gobert and the Mavericks didn’t have enough firepower to rally down the stretch.
The Timberwolves improved to a Western Conference-best 34-14 while the Mavericks slipped to 26-22.
The Mavericks got nice showings from Richaun Holmes (11 points, 10 rebounds) and Josh Green (18 points), but they needed a hot-shooting night if they were going to spring this upset and it simply wasn’t there.
The health issues are very much the prevailing story for the Mavericks right now. But the Mavericks refused to use that as a crutch.
“You think about it. You see that they’re out,” Green said. “So you think about it for sure. But what are you going to do? I trust everybody on this team. We have a very talented team.
“Yes, it’s unfortunate that they’re out. We’re missing guys. Kyrie and Luka are the best players in the world. But I still trust my other teammates to be able to put up a fight. Tonight, we couldn’t.”
But they did for a half. They had a chance to take the lead at halftime, but got burned by a couple of late Towns three-pointers.
Then, the second half was completely one-sided.
“Our toughness in the first half kept us in the game, and we just kind of let go of the rope in the second half,” Holmes said. “They’re the best team in the West for a reason. They executed. KAT kind of imposed his will on the game. They did what they do.”
Said Green: “I think we got hit and we didn’t hit back. We messed up in the second half. We didn’t hit back. Basketball is a game of runs. They got on a great run. And we just couldn’t answer back. Hopefully we can have a healthy team on Saturday.”
On Wednesday, it was the second game in little over a month at Minnesota in which both Dončić and Irving were sidelined.
Lively’s injury happened on Monday against Orlando when he was inadvertently smacked in the nose by Wendell Carter Jr.’s elbow.
“He’ll get fitted for a mask,” Kidd said. “Hopefully he feels better today. We’ll see what that means for Saturday.
“But no excuse with injuries or who can’t go. That group in the locker room, we got to play hard, we got to have fun and take care of the ball. But we’re here. Execute the game plan and see if we can give ourselves a chance to win.”
The Mavericks don’t play again until Saturday against Milwaukee. That means Dončić and the other infirmed players will have four full off days between games, assuming some or all of them can return against the Bucks.
X: @ESefko
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