Four days after they lost by a bucket in Dallas, the Timberwolves ended their two-game losing streak Friday night with a 116-95 beating of the Mavericks at Target Center.
Timberwolves dominate Mavericks 116-95 in rematch at Target Center
All five starters for the Wolves finished in double figures as they moved closer to Denver and Dallas in the tight race for a top-six spot in the Western Conference standings.
March 26, 2022 at 2:25AM
They did so with all five starters scoring in double figures, with super sub Jordan McLaughlin coming off the bench with energy and 16 points — and they did so by limiting Mavericks star guard Luka Doncic to just a 24-point, 10-rebound, eight-assist night.
By the time an announced sellout crowd of 17,136 filed out, the Wolves had moved closer in their pursuit of the first six playoff spots at season's end next month.
The seventh-place Wolves now trail sixth-place Denver by a half game, Dallas and Utah by 2½ games.
Afterward, coach Chris Finch praised his team that believed it shouldn't have lost Monday in Dallas 110-108 and deserved better in its home loss to NBA-best Phoenix.
"I couldn't be more pleased and proud of them, just battling out there," he said. "They've done a pretty good job not allowing one loss to lead to another. They rally themselves really, really well. They knew how big this game was. We were very, very disappointed that we lost in Dallas, that we lost the other day. We took those losses really hard."
The Wolves lost reserve guard Malik Beasley for the night to a left ankle sprained in the second quarter, just after forward Naz Reid hobbled to the locker room but returned to play the second half.
"We'll see with Beas," Finch said. "Hopefully, it's not too bad."
Finch said he saw the weight of those last two losses on a team that nonetheless turned the game with a 28-17 third quarter in which they finally got out into transition and scored.
"It looked like a game where both teams played a lot of meaningful basketball this week," Finch said. "Both teams were struggling to find that extra gear and we were able to find it in that moment."
Finch called McLaughlin "the star of the game" as well as the "spark that he has been the last 30 games or whatever it has been."
McLaughlin provided the hustle plays and those 16 points on 6-for-8 shooting in 20 minutes off the bench. He had 10 of his points and two of his three three-pointers in the fourth quarter alone, when the Wolves stretched their lead to as many as 25 points.
Star center Karl-Anthony Towns led the Wolves with 20 points and nine rebounds in 30 minutes played on a night fellow starters Patrick Beverley, D'Angelo Russell, Anthony Edwards and Jarred Vanderbilt scored anywhere from Beasley's 10 to Russell's 15.
"It's great — it shows how good our team is," McLaughlin said. "I've said it all year, anyone 1-15 can play in the rotation. It can be anyone's night. All our guys can play when you play the right way. The ball has its own energy and finds the right guy at the right moments. Everybody loves playing with everyone else."
Once again, Finch said he saw in Friday's game a team willing and ready to play for one another.
"With so much on the line for us, it's just indicative of how only how bad we want it," Finch said, "but also how bad they don't want to let their teammates down."
Coach Chris Finch said the team reviewed film of every Edwards play in clutch time this season, and he graded out fairly well.
