Timberwolves at Mavericks
Dirk Nowitzki turned back the clock in Dallas' last game and the
37-year-old forward seeks another productive contest when the Mavericks
host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday. Nowitzki scored 21 points
in the final 17 minutes and matched his season high of 31 points as
Dallas registered a 118-113 overtime win over the Boston Celtics on
Monday.
Nowitzki's big effort came one night after he scored a season-worst four points while the Mavericks were being drubbed by the San Antonio Spurs. Then he experienced a slow start against Boston on the second game of a back-to-back before finally finding his rhythm. "I just had to dig deep," Nowitzki said afterward. "You've got to find it somehow." Minnesota hasn't been able to find victories and Tuesday's 114-99 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans was its 10th in the past 11 games.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, FSN North (Minnesota), FSN Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (13-30): Minnesota routinely experiences issues because of its youth but point guard Ricky Rubio didn't want to hear about it after his club was outscored 63-39 in the second half of the loss to New Orleans. "We started to get selfish," Rubio told reporters. "That is not the way we need to play. We can't blame everything on the young guys because they don't have enough experience." Second-year shooting guard Andrew Wiggins scored 21 points against the Pelicans for his sixth 20-point outing in seven games and he is averaging 24.3 points during the stretch.
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (24-19): Point guard Deron Williams had his second 20-point outing of the month in the win over Boston and scored 10 of his 20 points in the extra session. "He has been fantastic for us down the stretch," Nowitzki told reporters. Williams expressed awe over his first half-season playing with Nowitzki: "He has that mentality where he can miss 10 shots in a row and them make 10 in a row right after that. He's going to keep shooting. He doesn't shy away from it."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Mavericks have won the past four meetings, including a 93-87 road victory Jan. 10.
2. Minnesota backup SF Shabazz Muhammad is averaging 13.9 points during the last 11 games.
3. Dallas C Zaza Pachulia collected 19 rebounds against Boston and his 11-per-game average ranks sixth in the NBA.