The Dallas Mavericks (3-1) have a bad habit of winning against their will here early in the 2024-25 season, but hey, they all count the same.

The Mavericks traveled to Minneapolis on Tuesday and defeated the Timberwolves 120-114 at Target Center on the second night of their first back-to-back set of the season. The way the Mavs gained control of the game over the course of the third quarter, they almost gave it all back on a fourth quarter run by the Wolves and tied the game in crucial time, played like a deleted scenes package from the Western Conference Finals DVD 2024 Box Set.

When it became clear that Kyrie Irving would have to put the Mavs on his shoulders, he came out big to lead the Mavs to victory down the stretch. Irving scored 25 of his team-high 35 points in the second half before a hobbled but angry Luka Dončić made his own upset in the final minutes of the game, securing the victory. Dončić hit a game-winning three-pointer from near the Timberwolves logo with 1:04 to play and finished with 24 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in another tough shooting night.

PJ Washington scored 17 points and eight rebounds on 7 of 13 shooting. Anthony Edwards paced the Mavs for 24 of his game-high 37 points in the first quarter.

Ant marches early

Edwards was imbued with “The Power Cosmic” early in the game, and the Mavericks defense looked slower and slower on each possession to get a hand in his face. He set a new career high with 24 of the 34 points the Wolves scored early in the game in one quarter. Edwards’ 24-point performance in Game 1 is the second-highest single-quarter scoring performance in Timberwolves franchise history, trailing only Karl-Anthony Towns, who scored 32 points in a quarter in 2022.

Edwards played like he had this game wrapped up after the Mavericks beat the Timberwolves in the Western Conference finals. He shot more volume from 3-point range at the start of the 2024-25 season and was automatic from deep in the first quarter on Tuesday, going a ridiculous 6 of 8 from 3-point range. Just four minutes into the game, Edwards scored three times on three consecutive Minnesota possessions, then scored three more as the first quarter came to a close and the Wolves began to extend their early lead. The Mavs fought for survival and trailed 34-26 after one quarter.

Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images

Edwards suffered an injury late in the first quarter and scored just one point in the next quarter and a half. He came to life in the fourth quarter as the Wolves narrowly trailed and finished with a game-high 37 points. but shot just 6 of 12 from the free throw line in the loss.

Important run by the Mavs in the second quarter

Dallas fought through the second quarter as best it could, handing the ball while waiting out the Wolves’ hot start from distance. The Mavs’ first significant run came about five minutes into the second quarter. It wasn’t loud, but it was important. Dončić started the run with a strong shot to the basket with 6:39 minutes left in the half. The Mavericks’ fortunes appeared to turn when Dončić made a more determined attempt to score inside after missing his first three 3-point attempts of the game.

With just over five minutes left in the half, after Dončić missed his third three-pointer wide open and in rhythm near the goal line, Washington rebounded and hit his first three-pointer of the game to bring the Mavs within one point, trailing by 47 . 46. ​​Then Dončić sucked up the Wolves’ defense on a drive the next time down the floor and found Dereck Lively II for a one-handed alley-oop jam that gave Dallas the lead back 48-47 with 4:38 left in the second Passage . It was an 11-3 run that gave the Mavericks their first lead of the game with 4:45 left in the first quarter.

Slow shot releases have become the norm for Dončić in the first three games of the season, but that’s somewhat understandable given he hasn’t had a great preseason following a calf injury. At halftime, Dallas led 61-59.

Luka had to fight

Near the end of the first half, when the lead seemed to change every time on the court, Dončić collapsed to the ground after taking a quick shot in on a broken play that had previously put the Mavs up 59-57 with 1:17 left the train fired the break. It looked like a Wolves defender had poked Dončić in the back of the knee – almost like a dead leg or Charley Horse.

He came out again at the start of the third quarter, but didn’t score at all on his shift in the third quarter. It looked like his leg was still bothering him after halftime.

But he also had to endure another tough evening of shooting. Just one night after hitting 5 of 22 shots in Monday’s 110-102 win over the Utah Jazz, Dončić made just 10 of 27 shots against the Timberwolves. That dramatic 3-pointer with 1:04 left in the game was his first of the game – he shot 1 of 8 from long range and won.

Here comes the cavalry

Photo by David Berding/Getty Images

But unlike previous seasons, this year the Mavericks are built to win on the occasional Dončić off night. Irving asserted his dominance over the game while Dončić struggled throughout the third quarter, scoring a game-high 16 points on 6 of 10 shots in the frame. In the final minute and a half of the third period, he hit two big 3-balls and a running lay-in assisted by Spencer Dinwiddie.

Quentin Grimes made his first three 3-pointers in a Mavs jersey against the Wolves, and two of them came in that crucial third quarter. His second goal of the quarter and third of the game gave the Mavericks an 83-75 lead with 2:33 left in the third and was Irving’s fifth assist of the game.

Dallas took a 93-82 lead in the fourth period and secured another decisive win against the Timberwolves.