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National Basketball Association
Minnesota 118, Dallas 110
When: 8:00 PM ET, Thursday, December 28, 2023
Where: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Officials: #58 Josh Tiven, #78 Evan Scott, #50 Gediminas Petraitis
Attendance: 18024

Anthony Edwards scored a season-high 44 points to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 118-110 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night in Minneapolis.

Edwards made six 3-pointers while equaling the third-highest scoring output of his career as the Timberwolves won for the 12th time in 15 games.

Dallas played without star Luka Doncic (quadriceps) for the second time in five games. Sidekick Kyrie Irving (heel) missed his 11th game in a row.

Rudy Gobert registered 20 points on 7-of-7 shooting and also had 11 rebounds and three blocked shots for Minnesota, which owns the second-best record in the NBA at 23-7. Jaden McDaniels added 12 points and four blocks for the Timberwolves.

Tim Hardaway Jr. matched his season high of 32 points and Jaden Hardy added 17 for the Mavericks, who lost for the sixth time in nine games.

Derrick Jones Jr. had 15 points, nine rebounds and three steals and Dwight Powell contributed 12 points, 14 rebounds and six assists for Dallas. Seth Curry and Dante Exum added 11 points apiece for the Mavericks.

Minnesota shot 51.4 percent from the field, including 17 of 33 (51.5 percent) from 3-point range. Mike Conley and Karl-Anthony Towns added 10 points apiece for the Timberwolves, who overcame 22 turnovers.

Dallas hit 44.4 percent of its shots and made 14 of 33 (42.4 percent) from behind the arc. The Mavericks committed 18 turnovers.

Dallas trailed by as many as 18 in the first quarter before recovering to a take a 72-71 edge on Powell's inside basket with 8:09 left in the third quarter.

A short time later, Edwards knocked down a 20-footer to start a 15-3 surge as Minnesota took an 88-77 lead with 3:23 left in the quarter. Edwards finished with 16 points in the period as the Timberwolves took a 98-91 lead into the final stanza.

Kyle Anderson knocked down his first 3-pointer since Nov. 8 to give Minnesota a 105-96 with 9:04 remaining.

A 3-pointer by Edwards made it 110-99 with 5:39 left before the Mavericks scored seven of the next eight points to move within five with 2:33 to go. However, Minnesota held off the charge.

Edwards scored 22 points in the first half as the Timberwolves led 61-56 at the break. Hardaway tallied 14 in the half for Dallas.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Dallas   Minnesota
Tim Hardaway Jr. 32 Scoring Anthony Edwards 44
Dante Exum 6 Assists Mike Conley 6
Dwight Powell 14 Rebounds Rudy Gobert 11
Derrick Jones Jr. 8 Free Throws Made Anthony Edwards 14
Derrick Jones Jr. 3 Steals Nickeil Alexander-Walker 4
Jaden Hardy 1 Blocks Jaden McDaniels 4
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Dallas 110 44.4 14-33 16-19 29 39 3 9 18
Minnesota 118 51.4 17-33 25-34 23 38 10 9 22
Upcoming Games
  • Minnesota will play their next game at home against L.A. Lakers. The Timberwolves have a W/L % of .696 after a win and 1.000 after a loss.
  • Dallas will play their next game on the road against Golden State. The Mavericks have a W/L % of .526 after a win and .615 after a loss.