On December 29, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued, and the Timberwolves hosted the Mavericks, who played back-to-back.
The Mavericks' lineup has changed dramatically in this game, and Doncic will not be able to play after Irving.
At the beginning of the first quarter, Gwee opened the game with a long-range three-point shot, but after that, the pace of the game was quickly controlled by the Timberwolves, Edwards was able to make a sudden pass, and the Timberwolves stopped the Mavericks 11-3 after a wave of 11-0.
After a timeout, Exum hit a three-pointer for the Mavericks to break the scoring drought, but then the Timberwolves went on another 9-0 run led by Edwards to give the Timberwolves a 20-6 lead.
After Hardaway Jr. came out, the Mavericks finally had a reliable scorer again, but Reed, who came off the bench for the Timberwolves, was also able to hit consecutive shots, and the Mavericks seized the opportunity of too many mistakes by the Timberwolves at the end of the quarter to chase consecutive points, and the Timberwolves led 37-26 at the end of the first quarter.
At the beginning of the second quarter of the game, the Timberwolves continued to make mistakes, both teams had a hard time scoring, the Mavericks woke up one step earlier than the Timberwolves, Hardaway Jr. and Curry Jr. continued to block and score or make fouls to the free throw line, and the Mavericks chased 51-54 after playing 13-1, Edwards scored five points in a row with three-point shooting and free throws, and the Timberwolves led 61-56 at the end of the first half.
In the first half, Timberwolves Edwards scored 22 points, Gobert 11 points, and Mavericks Hardaway Jr. 14 points.
In the third quarter of the game, Edwards opened the scoring curtain for the Timberwolves with 2+1, and only 2 minutes after the opening game, the Mavericks entered the Bonus state because of 4 fouls, but the Mavericks played very relaxed, Powell dunked and scored after the Mavericks chased 70-71, and after the pause, Powell scored again Mavericks 72-71 to overtake the score. Conley and Edwards then stepped up to score back-to-back points, and Towns also stepped up to face Hardaway Jr. at the end of the quarter, and with Edwards' five consecutive points at the end of the quarter, the Timberwolves led 98-91 at the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter of the game, Lee Kyle, who shot 9% of the three-point line in the opening game, hit two points and three points in a row to step on the three-point line, and the Timberwolves bench was excited, and the difference between the two sides was about 10 points for a long time, and in the last 3 minutes, Hardaway Jr. hit another three-pointer after Exum scored a layup, the Mavericks chased it to 106-111, and the veteran Conley scored consecutive points thereafter, and finally the Timberwolves defeated the Mavericks 118-110 at home.
Player data
Timberwolves starters: McDaniels 12 points, Towns 10 points and 8 rebounds, Gobert 20 points and 11 rebounds, Edwards 44 points, Conley 10 points, Lee Kyle 8 points and 10 rebounds.
Mavericks starters: Jones 15 points, Williams 8 points, Lively 2 points, Hardy 17 points, Exum 11 points, Hardaway Jr. 32 points, Powell 12 points, Curry Jr. 11 points.