The Dallas Mavericks picked up their third win in a row by shooting lights out against the Minnesota Timberwolves in a 98-75 victory. Chandler Parsons led the way with 22 points, 19 of which came in the first half.
Mavs players talked about this being a 'trap' game for them coming off an impressive victory over the Memphis Grizzles Monday, January 19, and preparing to face the Chicago Bulls Friday, January 23. But one couldn't tell by the way the Mavs played at a high level throughout the night.
The Timberwolves would grab a 9-4 lead early in the first quarter behind Thaddeus Young's early four points, but Parsons and Nowitzki would quickly bring the Mavs back with back-to-back jumpers to take the lead, 11-9, and never looked back.
The Timberwolves kept it close at the end of the first quarter, trailing 24-21, before the Mavericks ran away with it in the second, big reason was Chandler Parsons' shooting. Parsons was hot from the field all night long but no more than a stretch in the second quarter where he scored 10 Mavs points in a row to stretch their lead to 49-34 with 3:34 left in the second quarter. Parsons shot 9 of 13 overall for 22 points to lead all scorers.
Nowitzki was also quite effective, as he scored 16 points on 6 for 9 shooting to go along with nine rebounds in just 25 minutes. Overall, the Mavericks shot 51 percent from the field and 41 percent from beyond the three-point line in an impressive shooting performance. No Mavs player would exceed 30 minutes on the night, as they put this game away early.
Andrew Wiggins scored 18 points on the night, as the Timberwolves fell to 7 wins and 34 losses on the season. The Timberwolves also welcomed back center Nikola Pekovic from a two-month absence, as he scored 14 points in 23 minutes of play.
The young Timberwolves were simply too overmatched by the veteran Mavericks to put up much of a fight, as the Mavs did whatever they wanted to on the offensive end. Former Timberwolves guard, J.J. Barea, made his return to Minnesota for the first time since he was let go early on in the season and carved up the Wolves defense for 10 assists.
The Mavericks (30-13) will now head back to Dallas, as they look to take on Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls Friday night.
