DALLAS – In a game of attrition Tuesday night, the Timberwolves still had the two highest-paid players on the floor in Karl-Anthony Towns and D'Angelo Russell, despite being down three starters and five players overall.
Down three starters, Timberwolves come up short in Dallas; D'Angelo Russell's shot goes cold
The Mavericks and Timberwolves both played Tuesday's game without key players, but Dallas did more with less in a 114-102 victory.
December 22, 2021 at 1:06PM
Towns played like he knew the Wolves needed him to carry them, a spot he has been familiar with during his tenure. Russell had 12 assists, but the Wolves needed a night when Russell as a shotmaker had a deep impact on the game.
His shot was off and, as a result, the undermanned Mavericks, who were without Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis, defeated the Wolves 114-102 in Dallas and ended the Wolves' four-game win streak.
"It was a tough night for him," coach Chris Finch said, referring to Russell. "We needed him to be better shooting the ball. He's disappointed in his performance. We needed to pick him up, too."
Towns finished with 26 points and Malik Beasley had 22, but the Wolves couldn't overcome Russell's 4 of 18 shooting, which included 1 of 11 from three-point range.
"He was pressing for sure," Towns said. "He understood the magnitude of the game. … Not just because it was about getting a five-game winning streak but … we would win the tiebreaker for the season and that would make a big difference for us in the playoffs."
Russell didn't feel much like talking afterward. His postgame news conference lasted about 90 seconds.
When asked if he felt extra pressure to score with all the Wolves' absences, Russell said, "No, I don't think so."
Asked where the team's shot selection could've been better, Russell said, "Shot selection could've been better."
Asked where defensively the Wolves missed Jarred Vanderbilt and Patrick Beverley, two of the Wolves' best defenders, Russell answered, "Defensively."
Finch elaborated a little more on Russell's night.
"I thought he took some tough shots out there," Finch said. "I thought he was pressing a little bit. I think he needs to let the ball come back and find him a little bit in the offense. Took a lot of tough contested ones."
Russell's shooting woes weren't the sole reason the Wolves lost. They were down Vanderbilt and Beverley and because of that Finch said they lacked the ball pressure necessary to contain Dallas. That allowed Jalen Brunson to score a game-high 28 points and Dorian Finney-Smith to score 19 as the Mavericks closed out the Wolves down the stretch despite a slew of their own COVID-related absences.
"We let our defense dictate our offense," Beasley said. "Since we didn't play well on the defensive end, we felt like we needed to play hero ball on the offensive end."
The Wolves came back from a 17-point third-quarter deficit with Russell's lone three of the night giving them their first lead since the second quarter, 92-90, with 8 minutes, 34 seconds remaining. Dallas scored 14 of the next 17 points and the game was all but over.
Without Vanderbilt, their best rebounder, the Wolves had just five second-chance points when they average 16.1 per game. The Wolves have had players added to COVID protocols before their past three games. As Finch said, "Who knows what the next couple days may bring?"
"We may go down guys further. Hopefully not. But that's no excuse," Finch said. "We got to go out there and play. We need to have some better performances. It's time for guys to step up. All across the board, our best guys got to step up and lead us and our guys that haven't had a chance to play much now have a chance to play and they got to get out there and they got to fight."
The Spurs continue to miss a number of players, as well as their coach.
