Mavericks 94, Timberwolves 93

Tonight the Mavs hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves. Usually a good game. Decent. I left to go work out late tonight and the Mavs were up 71-55 and I felt pretty dang good about the game. I come back and the score reads as it is listed above. I said to myself, "What happened, Tim Mo? What the dang heck happened around here?" I was led to believe that it was the Mavs' atrocious amount of 3-pointers shot and made (1 out of 11) versus the Wolves' 3 for 4. That certainly wasn't the only stat, but it was the one that jumped out at me.

When have we seen Dirk Nowitzki put the Mavs up by 4 by shooting two free throws and then the other team makes a meaningless 3-pointer at the end of the game? When have we seen that before? ........ Could it have been, hmm, let's see THE VERY LAST GAME?????? Yes, it was. And the point difference was one point for either team. Very odd scenario indeed. The Mavs had the game in check, didn't play extremely well, but were able to sustain a late surge by the Wolves. How many times can the Mavs afford to do that?

They held Garnett in check for almost the entire game, but he managed to get 19 in the second half to lead all scorers with 25 for the game. He also pulled down 12 rebounds. Now, Kevin Garnett is cool with me. But he puts up the emptiest states in the entire league. There's no question. You expect a double-double from him, he is a great player, but it never means anything. There's no point. Ricky Davis was hot early for the Wolves, but that was it pretty much. On the other side of the ball, the Mavericks were led in scoring with 22 points, from both Josh Howard and Jason Terry. Nowitzki had an awful shooting night but was able to get to the line and ended up with 18 points. Diop played a strong defensive game, as well as contributing 12 rebounds, helping the Mavs maintain that crucial edge on the glass 46-39. They shot way too many 3's and missed almost all of them, so that needs to change. Another winner, though. Can't complain as I've had a great sports night overall.