Timberwolves

11/17 RECAP: Timberwolves Come Back Versus Mavericks, Win Third Straight

In Dallas, top-of-the-key 3-pointers by 6-foot-10 foreign-born power forwards are a common occurrence. It’s rare that foreigner is not Dirk Nowitzki.

On Friday, it was Nemanja Bjelica.

With 7:37 left in the fourth quarter of Friday’s game that pinned the home Dallas Mavericks against the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves, Bjelica pulled from 25 feet and backpedaled towards half court, as the ball fell through the net to give Minnesota an 86-78 lead. Rick Carlisle immediately called for a timeout and in a not-so Bjelly-like fashion, Bjelica flipped around three fingers by his hip and skipped over to the Timberwolves bench screaming.

This has not been a Bjelly-like season for the 29-year-old Serbian. Though his minutes remain muted in the Thibodeau system – playing just 12 minutes and change Friday – the second unit has received a boon from the backup power forward in all 15 games this season.

Friday, that 3-pointer – and celebration – served as a proverbial sharpening of the knives for the rest of the Wolves. Jimmy Butler and Jeff Teague hit two more 3s in the next three possessions and just like that Minnesota was up 15 points, erasing what was once a 14-point Dallas lead.

A Flat Start

The Wolves did not punch first in this one. They also didn’t punch second, or third.

A matchup against Dallas would make any opponent drool. The Mavs are now 2-14 this season. For the Wolves, this matchup is particularly catnip-y. Dallas has no legitimate big men — Salah Mejri, Maxi Kleber, Nowitzki.

Nerlens Noel is out of their rotation.

With Karl-Anthony Towns, who has made 46 of his last 72 shots (63.9 percent) against Dallas, the Wolves were resolute to again feed the big man early and often. But nothing was easy for Towns, who only made five shots in the game.

The Mavs hard-doubled every Towns post-up to start the game. This often forced the ball out of his hands and left the Wolves confused. Needing to pivot from what was clearly the plan, the offense was a heaping spoonful of isolations that led to contested jumpers.

Just as the Wolves began to find some traction at the end of the first, the Mavs switched to a matchup 2-3 zone and the Wolves were again lost.

A Minnesota team that is still working to find a pecking order and offensive fluidity struggles with change. Carlisle and the Mavs capitalized on that stiffness.

This Minnesota coagulation led to a growing margin that inflated as high as 14 and closed the half at 12. But when the first half went away, so did the Wolves’ inability to knock down a shot.

The offense was still fairly sticky in the second half – little passing that led to lots of isolated pull-ups – but the Wolves found effectiveness. Wiggins hit some tough shots on his way to 19 points and so too did Jeff Teague who finished with 15 points and 10 assists, marking his fifth double-double of the season.

But stickiness wasn’t the theme of the second half; it was the talent. A Dallas team void of talent could not keep pace with the Wolves’ four-headed offensive monster and (again) formidable bench.

Jamal Crawford – who would probably be the third-best player on the Mavericks – was the flint before the ignition of Bjelica in the fourth quarter. Crawford knows he has a job to do in fourth quarters, and the timely shots he hit in Friday’s fourth, as he has in many final quarters this season, was crucial.

Crawford’s defense is also improving. Historically, he has played that side of the ball with a malaise. This year, he’s frisky when his thin frame isn’t being clobbered by screens. Defensive activity appears important to him. Thibodeau is rubbing off.

On Fire in a Fire Fourth

The Wolves won the fourth quarter by 22 points after scoring 43 total points in the first half. Again, the talent kicked in. Starting with Crawford, Tyus Jones, and of course, Bjelica, the lead became swollen. (No thanks to Shabazz Muhammad who still looks lost.)

Then, the finishers entered.

When the Mavs couldn’t handle the potency of the Wolves’ bench, there was a sense of this is over when the starters re-entered following Bjelica’s 3-pointer. It was, in fact, over.

Butler, still, in the midst of a clear shooting slump, is not affected by what happens in the first three quarters. He takes the lead in fourth and when he begins to click the Wolves are hard to keep pace with.

Had the first half duplicated itself, this one would have been painful. The cries for lack of continuity and more Bjelly would have been loud. Now, it’s only the latter. Bjelica has been phenomenal this season, and the frustrations of another game with less than 13 minutes are warranted. However, the glass-half-full outlook is that this is certainly working.

The Wolves went on the road, took care of business, won by 24, and are 10-5. All is well. Well, kind of.


Listen to Dane on Wolves Wired!

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