Mavericks-Timberwolves: 5 takeaways as Dallas wins West Finals rematch

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MINNEAPOLIS — Both sides set this game up as something clinical rather than emotional, despite the obvious recent high-stakes history between the Dallas Mavericks and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

It was only five months ago that the two met in the Western Conference Finals, a blood battle the Mavericks won in five games. They were back at Target Center, where Dallas won three times in that series, including a 124-103 rout that propelled the winners to the championship round. Minnesota got busy working to get better for this season and, after its own five-game elimination from the Finals, Dallas did too.

“That was last year. This is a new year,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said before Tuesday’s nationally televised clash. “This is a different team. They’re a different team.”

Wolves coach Chris Finch didn’t douse the backstory quite like Kidd but he came close.

“We didn’t put a roster together to beat Dallas,” Finch said. “Right now we’re trying to figure out who we are on a nightly basis. We don’t look at it as a rematch, even a rivalry. They’re a great team, they deserved to win that series, I’m sure guys will remember that. … But it’s so early in the season, I’m sure they’re trying to figure out who they are.

“But it is fun to play these teams early because you learn a lot about yourself.”

Hey, that’s our department, with five takeaways from the Mavericks’ 120-114 victory:

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1. 2 creators, 2 closers, 2 QBs

Imagine having Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes as your starting quarterback and Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson as his backup. Now imagine being able to play them together. Might drive defenses to distraction, don’t ya think?

That’s how NBA defenses feel about Dallas’ deployment of Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving in their backfield, er, backcourt. This no longer qualifies as news. More so it’s an appreciation of how daunting they can be with the teammates the Mavs have acquired orbiting around them.

Irving scored 35 points, 25 of them after halftime and 16 in the third quarter. Those especially were vital because it wasn’t clear how long or well Dončić was going to play after tweaking his right knee in the second quarter. The veteran point guard hit six of his 10 3-point attempts and 13 of 23 shots overall, playing 39 minutes after logging almost 36 Monday vs. Utah.

“It’s a matter of his feel,” Kidd said. “It’s about energy for him. And whatever the team needs at that moment.”

Dončić labored for much of the game, verbally jousting with some courtside fans whose jeers had some ring of truth Tuesday. He missed his first seven 3-point shots, but with 1:04 left and the Wolves drawing close, he nailed his eighth from 33 feet to make it 117-109.

“Someone just said it, ‘We’ve seen this movie before,’” Kidd said. “Luka loves the opportunity to win the game.”

Said Dončić: “I don’t know how I make those shots and not normal shots. … Just got to get the rustiness out.”

Finch spoke for a lot of NBA coaches and the fretting they do against Dallas when, earlier in the evening, he said: “They have an incredible pick-and-roll game, of course they have a Kyrie iso game and now [with Klay Thompson] they have an off-ball game. They’ve become multi-faceted. They can switch gears to do different things.”

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2. Early statement game for Mavs

While Minnesota had been off since Saturday, Dallas had to hang on against Utah on Monday night. Irving totaled the aforementioned 75 minutes in the back-to-back while Dončić heaped 40 on top of the 33:12 he got against the Jazz.

Yet here was Dallas running up a 9-0 edge on the fast break in the third quarter. The Mavericks outscored the Wolves 67-48 combined in the second and third. And while the Mavs had almost as many turnovers as Minnesota in the first half, 10-9, the visitors cleaned that up with only one over the final 24 minutes.

It’s apparent that P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford, so valuable as midseason acquisitions last season, are more familiar and embedded now. Young center Dereck Lively II no longer is a rookie. And newcomer Naji Marshall, while known for offense, had an impact defensively against the Wolves with three rebounds and two steals.

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3. Edwards attacking from afar

One of the saddest moments in recent NBA history came when Vince Carter, the league’s best dunker in his prime, opted to change his game to reduce the wear and tear of invading the paint. He still was a young player, transitioning as if he were Michael Jordan at 38.

Hopefully Anthony Edwards at 23 isn’t going to deprive NBA of his many highlights at the rim. But he too has shifted to more of a ground game so far this season, gleefully playing with his 3-point shot as if it were a new toy.

In his first four seasons in Minnesota, Edwards averaged 7.4 attempts from the arc and made 2.6 per game for 35.3% success. Through four games this season, he has nearly doubled up with 13.3 attempts, 5.5 makes and 41.5% accuracy.

Edwards was scorching at the start Tuesday. He hit six 3-pointers in the first 12 minutes and scored 24, his most in a single quarter and a Target center record for any quarter. Dallas paid extra attention to him from there and Edwards scored just 13 more over the last three quarters and went 1-for-5 from the arc.

Still, it’s clear he’s writing a new chapter to his budding career.

“Have we replaced his midrange with 3s or [is he] just taking more 3s and keeping the same midrange?” Finch joked before the game.

“He’s at a point where he really trusts his shot. We’ve been telling him for years, you’re an outstanding 3-point shooter. But he has a lot of game and likes to dribble the ball …”

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4. Dallas crashed the glass late

The Mavericks had only one more offensive rebound, 12, than Minnesota. In the fourth quarter, each team had five. But Dallas’ came in critical moments, frustrating the Wolves. Striving to come back from what had been an 13-point deficit gets awfully difficult when the other team seems to be playing keep-away.

“The dagger shots at the end, when you’re trying to come back, are super painful,” Finch said. “But their offensive rebounds, there was a lot of transition, not getting matched up quick enough, and Kyrie is getting loose on us.”

Lively (two), Gafford, Washington and Dončić all snuck in to create second and even third chances for Dallas’ attack – and clock-killing.

“It’s on us, especially myself,” Edwards said. “I’m big as hell. I’ve got to be able to box them bigs out.”

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5. Randle fitting in

Julius Randle, the newly acquired power forward, brought something of a retro style of play when traded by New York with Donte DiVincenzo to the Wolves for Karl-Anthony Towns. It’s a hoot to see old-school possessions initiated in the low post, but that can be a challenge in today’s spree of 3s.

So far, so good. Randle had 20 points with seven boards, seven assists and 3-for-3 shooting from the arc. He played in flow, forcing nothing, seizing opportunities when his teammates looked for him.

In four games, Randle is averaging 23.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and shooting 62.5% on 3s (10-for-16).

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Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.

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