These Mavericks are serious stuff. If in the past they had an excellent final stretch of the season thanks to how well they moved in the closing of the transfer market, in the present they have shored up that project to the point of being the great favorite to dominate in the Western Conference along with Oklahoma City Thunder. Yes, <a href="https://www.archysport.com/2022/01/nba-dallas-mavericks-winning-streak-ends-abruptly/" title="NBA: Dallas Mavericks winning streak ends abruptly”>Luka Doncic finally has the team to go for everything and last night it was clear in the visit to Minnesota, where the Texas team won 114-120.
Although it was the Timberwolves who started better, the Mavericks once again demonstrated that they had multiple resources to tilt any game in their favor. They have talent, they have physicality, they have depth and, if one day someone fails, there is another player willing to hit the table. Whose turn was it last night? To Kyrie Irving.
He guard He is experiencing a second youth in Dallas and he showed it against the Wolves with 34 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists. He was his team’s top scorer and relieved pressure on Luka Doncic, 24 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists, and on Klay Thompson who was somewhat subdued to stay at seven points. But Jason Kidd’s men have more, since PJ Washington scored up to 17 points.
While on Dallas’ side everything is resources, the Timberwolves seem somewhat fair. Anthony Edwards is a machine, but he ended up exhausted by the need to lead each attack. He would finish with 37 points and Julius Randle would accompany him with a solid performance of 20 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists, insufficient given the poor contribution of the rest of the starting five.
Doncic’s dagger
Luka Doncic is a more than differential player. Since he arrived in the NBA, he has had that point of madness of great geniuses that leads him to not be afraid under any circumstances, and even less so if it is about closing a game. Against Minnesota it was repeated. If in the last playoffs he already hit the Wolves with everything, last night he hit them with a three-pointer from the logo in the final minutes to finish disarming them. «I heard many things they said from the stands. They really liked me… You know, last year was fun. It was a great moment in my career and in my life, so it was fun to be back,” he says.
(Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)
