Karl-Anthony Towns had a monster night with 28 points and 13 rebounds, and Andrew Wiggins scored the game-winning basket with 19 seconds to go to lift the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 110-108 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night.
Towns was brilliant throughout, hitting 12 of his 15 shots, including his last two, a jumper to tie with 1:15 to go and then a sweet dribble-drive for a finger roll and a 108-106 lead with 48 seconds to play.
Dallas rookie guard Jalen Brunson tied it with 36 seconds to go, but after Wiggins reclaimed the lead for Minnesota, Brunson missed Dallas' 32nd 3-point attempt of the game. He might not have been ready to launch at the buzzer after Luka Doncic shook off fellow rookie Josh Okogie at the top of the key and then stepped behind the arc.
But rather than take the potential game-winning 3-pointer, Doncic darted a pass to Brunson at the left wing. His 3-pointer caromed off the rim to snap the Mavs' two-game win streak. Both of those wins came with Doncic sitting out against Oklahoma City and Philadelphia.
Dallas lost the game from behind the arc, going just 7 of 39. Yet, the long ball also got them back in the game after falling behind 91-79 to start the fourth quarter. After going 3 of 29 from deep, Mavs guard Trey Burke hit a pair, followed by a 3 from Brunson and then from Doncic, who was just 2 of 8 from long range, with 2:40 left to give Dallas a 104-101 lead. Wiggins tied it at 104-104 with a three-point play with 2:01 left.
Doncic finished with 27 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Dwight Powell added 25 points on 8 of 9 shooting, with eight rebounds, and Burke had 12 points. Dirk Nowitzki, winding down his 21st and possibly final season, had nine points, but was 1 of 8 from beyond the arc in 22 minutes.
Wiggins finished with 19 points for the Wolves, ending a streak of seven consecutive 20-point games. Tyus Jones had 15 points and nailed all three of his 3-point attempts.
--Field Level Media
Minnesota | Dallas | |
Karl-Anthony Towns 28 | Scoring | Luka Doncic 27 |
Andrew Wiggins 7 | Assists | Luka Doncic 6 |
Karl-Anthony Towns 13 | Rebounds | Luka Doncic 12 |
Andrew Wiggins 6 | Free Throws Made | Dwight Powell 9 |
Keita Bates-Diop 2 | Steals | Dwight Powell 2 |
Karl-Anthony Towns 3 | Blocks | Maxi Kleber 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Minnesota | 110 | 48.8 | 10-27 | 16-20 | 26 | 38 | 3 | 6 | 10 |
Dallas | 108 | 45.7 | 7-39 | 15-19 | 26 | 49 | 5 | 2 | 13 |