Dusty May Questions Mavericks’ Response After Timberwolves’ Devastating Run

Minnesota also closed the first quarter by scoring 15 of the last 17 points and opened the third on a 10-1 run. Dallas shot 7-of-22 in the third quarter, including 2-of-13 from 3-point range, and trailed 103-69 entering the fourth.

“The most disappointing, just the way we responded to the runs, it was probably the thing that was most disappointing,” Mavericks coach Dusty May said. “And once the floodgates opened, they’re an explosive team. Their speed, their athleticism. And then you factor that in with the shot making. Bones comes in, goes 5-of-6. A lot of those are off the bounce from three.”

“And so it’s kind of the perfect storm where we’re not capitalizing on numbers breaks, we have a couple loose turnovers, and then they just make you pay, and then you’re playing on your heels,” May continued.

Dusty May On The Second-Quarter Push And Minnesota’s Answer

With 8:51 left in the second quarter, Santi Aldama replaced Daniel Gafford alongside Walter Clayton Jr., Zaccharie Risacher, Caleb Martin, and Cooper Flagg. Aldama hit a 25-foot 3-pointer 22 seconds later, and Flagg scored on a layup off an Aldama steal.

Martin’s transition layup with 7:11 left made it 43-40, and a timeout followed. Risacher’s dunk off a Flagg steal cut the deficit to one with 6:53 left. Minnesota then closed the half on a 24-10 run, and LaMelo Ball scored 10 points in the quarter.

The Timberwolves entered Thursday first in the NBA in defensive rating at 106.1. They had held each of their previous four opponents to 109 points or fewer.

“Are they number one in defense efficiency in the league now?” May explained. “I mean, when you’re number one in this league in anything, you’re pretty proficient in that area. When you just look at their team speed and the way, the intensity that they’re playing with, and then obviously it’s a luxury to have two rim protectors behind you.”

“We brought in our small-ball lineup and was able to make a run, and then we weren’t able to really sustain that with the same type of play,” May continued. “I thought that was big, because if we could’ve really sustained that moment and played, then it could’ve been at least more interesting, closer to half. But once they called timeout, they answered that run.”

Bones Hyland checked in with 4:34 left in the first quarter and Dallas ahead 20-16, along with Jaylen Clark. Minnesota outscored Dallas 18-6 the rest of the quarter, and Hyland and Clark combined for 13 of those points. Minnesota’s bench finished with 54 points, and Trey Lyles was plus-26 in 15:07.

“They had one body on them before they even crossed half-court, and we weren’t able to get clean catches, and we weren’t able to leverage that attention to generate anything else offensively,” May said. “And then their second unit really, I think, injected a lot of life into them.”

Dallas went 13-of-48 from 3-point range and took 56 jump shots, according to Synergy Sports data. The Mavericks scored 0.703 points per possession in the half-court and 0.583 out of timeouts.

“I thought we were a little bit impatient once they started making shots,” May said. “We didn’t work for great ones. We kind of settled for somewhat good ones, and then it became contagious. I thought we tried to match their play individually instead of just continuing to trust each other collectively.”

Naji Marshall, Dusty May On Energy, Effort, And The Road Trip

Dallas trailed 34-26 after one quarter and 67-52 at halftime. Naji Marshall, who finished with 13 points and 4 assists, scored 6 of his points in the first quarter, and the Mavericks committed 8 first-half turnovers that Minnesota turned into 12 points.

“I mean, we didn’t do it early enough, and they obviously just punched us in the mouth,” Marshall said.

Thursday was the first stop on the trip. Dallas came in with two days off after finishing a back-to-back with Sunday’s 130-93 win over the Brooklyn Nets and Monday’s 125-122 win over the Indiana Pacers, and it entered the trip 5-2 at home and 2-2 on the road.

“Bodies started to get tired, and we just got to lock in as a team,” Marshall explained. “Got to bring it every night, because we haven’t done nothing yet. It was good to get better from last season, and win some games early, but we still got to lock in every day and bring that energy.”

Dallas won 121-105 at Indiana on Oct. 23 and 113-109 at Miami on Oct. 26. Before Thursday, its road losses came at Houston in the season opener and at San Antonio on Nov. 4.

Minnesota scored 1.171 points per possession on 35 transition possessions, according to Synergy, and 26 fast-break points. Dallas allowed 33 points in the second quarter, 24 of them in the paint.

“I mean, obviously flush it emotionally, but no, even in the first half when we’re playing well, we give them a couple easy baskets by falling asleep on defense,” May said. “And those are the ones where if you’re gonna give them those types of baskets and then they’re gonna be making the step-back threes, then you’re in a tough spot. You can’t give them the baskets off of your mistakes.”

“You gotta find a way to make them earn all of them, like Melo and Bones and those guys, they earn them individually, one-on-one with great play,” May continued. “But it’s the others that we can’t get hustled, we can’t get outhustled. We can’t have numbers break turnovers, things like that.”

Dallas played the fourth quarter without its starters. Two-way players Tobi Lawal and Jett Howard played with Moussa Cissé, Marcus Sasser, and Max Christie, and Lawal grabbed 6 rebounds, 5 of them offensive, in 12 minutes.

“A couple of them competed at high level,” May said. “I mean, at that point, you’re just, you’re looking, number one, these are great reps against a Timberwolves team, that second unit. And that’s why we play. Jaylen Clark played well.”

“So to get reps, play for our young guys, especially the two-ways and the young players, to get reps against those guys in this type of environment,” May continued. “Hopefully, we’ll improve the way they work on a daily basis, and then they’ll practice with the type of intensity that they face in the game.”

Dallas continues the trip Saturday against the Cleveland Cavaliers, with tip-off set for 6:30 p.m. CT, and closes it Sunday against the Boston Celtics at 5 p.m. CT.