The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Dallas Mavericks 101-92 to advance to a 12-26 record and avoid falling to last place in the Western Conference.
Karl-Anthony Towns outscored the Mavericks 20-19 in the first quarter and finished with 34 points and 11 rebounds. Ricky Rubio finished with 13 points, 15 assists, five rebounds and five steals.
“I thought we got contributions from a lot of people,” said head coach and team president Tom Thibodeau. “I thought the way Karl started the game, playing from a lead was a big plus for us. And then I thought we got some timely play from our bench as well.”
“I guess it says we’re making shots if he’s got 10 assists, right?” said Thibodeau when notified that the team was 6-1 when Rubio has at least 10 assists on the night.
“I don’t know, you can probably make the numbers say whatever you want to say. The important thing is for us to play well, and if he’s performing well, the team is probably performing well. That’s usually the responsibility of your point guard — you judge a point guard by how the team is functioning.”
Zach LaVine left the game with a left hip contusion, but Tyus Jones had seven points in relief. Brandon Rush, an option to replace LaVine, remained on the bench throughout the game.
“Brandon has played well. But because they were so small with multiple point guards, I thought that was the way we had to go with those matchups,” said Thibodeau. “And I feel good about both of those guys, they’re ready, they’re good pros, they practice well. But like right now, the rotation, their situation — but that can change.”
He was particularly complimentary of Jones, however, saying that he’s not afraid to play him in important situations.
“He’s great in practice, he’s great in preparation. He’s gonna get better and better as time goes along. Every time he plays, good things do happen,” said Thibodeau.
“I like his readiness. One of the hard things is when you have to settle on a rotation, sometimes there are players that are deserving, that you can’t play everybody. Because if you do that, then you’re gonna take away from other people too.”
Here is Thibodeau’s entire postgame press conference:
Rubio offered his thoughts on his fourth quarter performance after the game:
Towns said he wasn’t surprised, but was fortunate, not to be double-teamed to start the game:
Jones said he’s always ready to go into the game and is not upset about his lack of playing time:
