The Dallas Mavericks extended their winning streak to three games with a 100-94 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in front of a sellout crowd.
The Mavericks picked up the win without their star point guard Rajon Rondo, who is expected to miss a minimum of three games after suffering an orbital fracture to his left eye and a nasal fracture in Saturday night's game. Rondo suffered the injury after an incidental blow to the face courtesy of teammate Richard Jefferson's knee in the first quarter against the Orlando Magic.
With Rondo sidelined, Mavs Coach Rick Carlisle slid reserve guard J.J. Barea into the first unit to begin the game. Meanwhile, new addition Chandler Parsons returned to the starting lineup after missing two outings with an illness.
The Minnesota Timberwolves, on the other hand, played with their full starters healthy and active for the first time in over three months. Ricky Rubio returned to the starting lineup but that didn't stop the Mavs from getting off to a sizzling 10-0 start to the game.
The Mavericks led 30-20 going into the second quarter and extended their lead to 21 in the second quarter before the Wolves made an 11-0 run of their own to cut the lead to seven at halftime.
Kevin Martin and Mo Williams kept the Timberwolves within striking distance well into the waning minutes of the fourth quarter. Things would get really interesting after Rubio’s lob to Andrew Wiggins made it 91-85 Dallas with 6:04 still on the game clock. Rubio then found a cutting Thaddeus Young to make it a four-point game. A 2-for-2 trip to the foul line by Wiggins would later make it a three-point cushion, 92-89.
Mo Williams sunk a timely three-pointer to cut the Mavericks lead to 96-92 with 2:10 left. At the same time, Mavericks sixth man, Devin Harris, went down with an ankle injury that would force him to the locker room and make Coach Carlisle turn to Barea to finish the game at point guard.
Barea drove into the lane for a score with 1:30 left and then later on swished two free throws to seal the win for Dallas against his former team.
Monta Ellis led the Mavs in scoring with 23 points but shot a poor 7 of 21 from the field. Parsons returned to the lineup to score 18 points on 8 of 12 from the field, while Nowitzki added 16 points and seven rebounds. Meanwhile, Barea finished with 10 points in the first unit.
Martin led the Timberwolves with 19 points on 8 of 17 shooting, but the Mavs’ 46.4 percent as a team bettered Minnesota’s 41.5 percent to overcome a 47-43 rebounding disadvantage.
The Mavericks missed Rondo's presence on defense most of all in this game and if Devin Harris is forced to miss Wednesday night's game, they'll have a tough time stopping Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors. The last time the Mavericks faced the Warriors, they were blown out on their own home court, so it raises the question how a team without their two best point guards will fare against the high scoring Warriors.
