Takeaways: Wolves dispatch short-handed Mavericks 118-105

A few nights after the Timberwolves ended a five-game losing streak against a short-handed Warriors team, they faced the Mavericks, who also had a lengthy “out” list on the injury report.

The Wolves did as they should in coming home with a 118-105 victory over Dallas at American Airlines Center, with Oklahoma City up next on Thursday, Jan. 29.

Julius Randle led the Wolves with 31 points while Naz Reid had 23. Anthony Edwards returned from a one-game absence for foot injury management to score 20.

Dallas came in short-handed with players like Cooper Flagg, Klay Thompson, Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively and Kyrie Irving all out with either short-term or long-term injuries.

The Mavericks were sloppy from the start, with 14 turnovers in the first half to the Wolves’ five, but the Wolves’ cold shooting (4-for-17 from three-point range in the first half) had them up just 10 at halftime.

Randle returned home to his native Dallas and powered the Wolves offense when shots weren’t falling early. He was 7-for-13 (16 points) in the first half while the rest of the team was 14-for-35 (40%). Randle finished with his ninth 30-point game of the season and his third in his last seven games. The Wolves were ahead as much as 17 in the second half before closing it out. Dallas never cut its deficit under double digits in the fourth quarter.

“Means a lot,” Randle told FanDuel Sports Network after the game. “I got a lot of family, friends here. So always enjoy anytime I come into this arena, I get a chance to play in front of everybody I grew up with. It’s always an honor for me. I had a lot of fun tonight for sure.”

One issue that irked coach Chris Finch postgame was the number of fouls the Wolves committed. The Wolves rank 25th in the NBA in fouls per game at 21.3. They committed another 25 against Dallas, and Finch called fouling a “bad habit” the Wolves have gotten into of late.

“We’re too soft, we’re letting them come at us, and then they’re playing off our body, and we’re trying to react,” Finch told reporters in Dallas. “We got bad angles there, or reaching or that kind of stuff. I think we gotta get into the ball a little bit more and win the battle up the floor.”

After hardly playing before garbage time in the last four games, Joan Beringer saw significant minutes against the Mavericks. Beringer played 10 minutes in the first half and played a role in 10 straight Wolves points at one point, whether by scoring or by getting an offensive rebound that set up a bucket.

“Joan was great tonight,” Finch said. “He kept a bunch of balls alive.”

Beringer got another six minutes in the second half and finished with nine points, four rebounds, one block and was a plus-11.