MINNEAPOLIS – With their supercharged lawn mowers in for repairs, the Mavericks were trying to mow a big pasture with hand trimmers on Thursday night.
In theory, it could be done.
And there they were in the middle of the third quarter, leading the Minnesota Timberwolves by a point against some serious odds. They were understaffed with Luka Dončić joining Kyrie Irving on the sideline.
That left the Mavericks trying to hold everything together with baling wire and duct tape.
It worked fine for most of three quarters until the Timberwolves went on a 15-3 tear and turned that one-point deficit into an 88-77 lead, which was enough to propel them to a 118-110 victory at Target Center.
“You’re never satisfied with losing but there are a lot of good things we can take from this,” coach Jason Kidd said of the Mavericks’ work. “I thought the energy and effort – guys competed. And our bench was really good for us.”
Starting with Tim Hardaway Jr., who was back in his sixth-man role and playing it very well with 32 points on 11-of-19 shooting (5-of-11 from three-point land).
It could not, however, offset, Anthony Edwards’ 44 points for the Timberwolves. The 18 free throws Edwards got were just one less than the Mavericks shot as a team.
The 18-14 Mavericks lost for fifth time in seven games – all crammed into 11 days.
That busy schedule took its toll and caused Luka to sit out with a sore left quad muscle.
“He aggravated it in that Christmas game, so there’s just not enough time to recover on a back-to-back, so he’s out,” coach Jason Kidd said.
The remainder of the Mavericks gave a valiant effort on the second night of back-to-back games. They had surrendered a 20-point lead and lost to Cleveland on Wednesday in Dallas.
Just 24 hours later, they had the team with the best record in the Western Conference on the ropes midway through the third.
But the Mavericks simply didn’t have enough juice down the stretch. After Minnesota made its run late in the third quarter, their hard-nosed defense took over in the fourth.
“I thought the group fought,” Kidd said. “We had some good looks. We hold a team to 20 points, but only score 19 in the fourth. It’s just tired bodies. We tried to keep rotating fresh bodies in there. We just came up short.”
The manpower shortage has been tough to deal with. But the Mavericks actually have gone 5-6 since Irving went out, 5-4 when Luka has played.
“Just making sure we stay together, stay connected,” Hardway said of what the key is to surviving injuries. “I think we did a great job of that. We’re dealing with a lot of injuries right now. Guys are starting to come back. We’re just doing a great job of staying connected and competing.”
But it also reduces the margin of error greatly.
“It showed tonight,” Hardway said. “It kills me to see Ant-man go 14 of 18 (from the line). Us turning the ball over (18) times. That’s not a recipe for success, especially when you have a lot of men out. Overall, I thought we did a great job of competing and giving ourselves a chance.”
Dwight Powell said that injuries are something that have to be dealt with by every team and it takes a special resolve to do so.
“It still takes a toll,” he said of the absence of key players. “It’s part of our responsibility as pros to find a way to still be effective, to step into whatever role that is required of us to help the team. But that doesn’t mean we don’t miss those guys that are out. It’s not easy, for sure. But we can’t make excuses.”
That the Mavericks climbed out of an early 37-19 hole was commendable. The Timberwolves were coming off a blowout loss at Oklahoma City on Tuesday.
Late in the first quarter, the Mavericks looked lost. But the bench, led by Hardy and Powell, who had 12 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, sparked a comeback.
“We knew there was a lot of time left in the game,” Powell said. “It was going to come down to effort and execution. We did a good job of bouncing back from that initial deficit.”
Said Kidd of the early going: “Turnovers were hurting us. We need to get shot attempts and wee talked about that in the timeout. But we were moving without the ball, setting screens. They’re the best defense in the league, so we just had to move without the ball and set screens. I thought the group did a really good job doing that. Hopefully we have a big carryover to Saturday.
Without Dončić and Irving, the Mavericks were surrendering about 57 points, not to mention a slew of rebounds and assists.
Making that up doesn’t happen with one or two players. And Kidd stressed that before the game.
“One, you have to be careful because we’ve been in this situation before in Houston,” he said, referencing the blowout loss to the Rockets earlier this month when Luka was unable to play. “Just play your role. Stay in character. If you try to do more, it can look like Houston.
“Take care of the ball, understand who you’re challenging at the rim. And then being able to make open shots. We’re getting a lot of good looks, we just haven’t been shooting the ball straight. Hopefully that changes.”
It did against the Wolves. The Mavericks hit 42.4 percent from beyond the arc. But the fourth quarter was a different story. They were just 7-of-21 from the field in the final 12 minutes, which allowed the Wolves to protect their lead down the stretch.
New point guard arrives: The Mavericks signed Brandon Williams to a two-way contract on Thursday. They waived Dexter Dennis to create a spot for Williams.
The 6-1 Williams has been with the Osceola Magic, where he averaged 22.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 5 assists in 14 games.
The Mavericks’ injury situation at point guard with both Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving sidelined on Thursday against the Timberwolves was the primary impetus for signing Williams, a former Arizona Wildcat.
“Looking at the balance of having a point guard, especially when we have Luka and Kai out and trying to keep the other guys in their roles,” Kidd said pregame. “So we signed Brandon and he will have an opportunity to play tonight.”
Williams played 24 games with the injury- and trade-depleted Portland Trail Blazers in the 2021-22 season, averaging 12.9 points.
He did not se4e action Thursday against the Wolves.
X: @ESefko
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