Mavericks 88, Timberwolves 78
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Dallas Mavericks played like a team that can smell the playoffs on Sunday, pulling away late to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 88-78.
J.J. Barea led the Mavericks with 21 points as Dallas extended its win streak to four games. Wesley Matthews had 19 and Devin Harris added 16 points off the bench as the Mavs (39-38) remained in the thick of the fight for a Western Conference playoff spot.
Minnesota saw its losing streak grow to three in a row despite looking like determined spoilers for the game's first 30 minutes. Andrew Wiggins was the top scorer for Minnesota (25-52) with 30 points, while rookie Karl-Anthony Towns had 11 points, a season-best 21 rebounds and nine assists, just missing the first triple-double of his career. Zach LaVine also scored 11 for the Wolves.
Leading by five points heading into the final quarter, the Mavericks went on an 11-0 to put the game out of reach. Team leader Dirk Nowitzki had a rough night, shooting just 4-of-18 from the field, but still managed 13 points. Justin Anderson was the leading Dallas rebounder with 10.
The Mavericks attempted 40 three-pointers, which was the most by any team at Target Center since the building opened in 1990.
Wiggins hit his first six shots of the game and led all scorers with 15 at halftime. Minnesota led by as many as eight in the first quarter but the Mavericks got the final basket of the first, spurring an 8-0 run and led 41-40 at halftime. Barea led Dallas with 14 first half points, while Towns was the half's top rebounder with 13 at the break. The Mavericks led 41-38 after Adreian Payne scored on a slam with 4:15 to play in the half. That was the last field goal by either team before halftime, as Ricky Rubio's free throws with 8.4 seconds to play closed the scoring.
Dallas opened up a 68-63 lead after three quarters, and led by as many as eight at one point. Minnesota was up by three points with five minutes to play before the Mavericks started hitting from long range, draining a quartet of three-pointers -- three of them by Matthews -- during a 14-3 run.
Dallas was 14-of-40 from three point range for the game.
NOTES: Mavericks PG Deron Williams was scratched for a sixth consecutive game with a sports hernia. Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said before the game that they are not expecting to get Williams back on the court anytime soon. ... With 25 wins entering Sunday's game, Minnesota interim coach Same Mitchell noted that his team has a chance to defy preseason expectations. "We look at what the experts say and they had us winning 17 games on the low end and 25 on the high end, and that's about right," Mitchell said. "But I'm proud from the standpoint that we have maxed out and have a chance to surpass with six games to go the number of wins the experts said." ... The Timberwolves embark on their final road trip of the season this week, starting on Tuesday in Golden State. They will also visit the Sacramento Kings and Portland Trail Blazers before their next home game. The Mavericks are at home for their next two games and host the Houston Rockets on Wednesday.