Mavericks vs. Timberwolves Final Score: Dallas falls to Minnesota, 105-99

The Dallas Mavericks lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Christmas Day by a score of 105-99. Kyrie Irving led Dallas with 39 points. Anthony Edwards was the top man for Minnesota with 26 chips of his own.

Superstars Luka Doncic and Anthony Edwards both started the game brilliantly, scoring eight points each in the first six minutes of the first quarter. Dallas took a small lead early, but Minnesota responded with a 7-0 run to go up five. Then Kyrie Irving looked for his shot, the Mavericks defense tightened up and a Quentin Grimes three put Dallas back in the lead with two minutes left. The lead was extended to five, but Minnesota ended the period with a 7-0 run to take a 26-24 lead into the second quarter.

Klay Thompson hit two quick three-pointers early in the second quarter to restore Dallas’ lead. Unfortunately, Minnesota responded with a longer run. The Mavericks were bitten by the turnover bug and were unable to take advantage of the minutes without Edwards as the Timberwolves began to pull away. Dallas remained in the mud most of the time, and then disaster struck. Luka Doncic suffered a leg injury, went to the locker room and did not return in the first half. It kept going for Dallas as a lid remained on the basket. Minnesota went into halftime with a 57-40 lead.

Doncic was ruled out for the game at halftime with a left calf strain. And things didn’t get any better in the third either. Dallas continued to play poorly on both ends, allowing Minnesota to extend its lead to as much as 28 points. Irving scored 11 points in the frame, but it didn’t matter at all. The Mavericks trailed 90-68 early in the fourth quarter.

Irving continued to cook in the fourth period and opened the period with a personal 5-0 run. Dallas finally started to play with vigor and made its first big run of the game, cutting Minnesota’s lead to nine with five minutes left. Suddenly it looked like a Christmas miracle was in progress; The Maverick defense was sensational down the stretch and they managed to cut the deficit to just two with 48 seconds left. Irving then missed a pull-up three early in the period, Edwards responded with a layup and the game was over. Dallas’ furious comeback failed and the Timberwolves escaped with a 105-99 victory. Here are three observations from it.

More life without Luka

Doncic has been injured in one way or another since the 2024 playoffs. He has already suffered five lower-body injuries this year. A left calf strain isn’t the worst-case scenario, but Doncic will certainly miss some time in the future. Dallas has done well without him this year and has a record of 6-2. However, today the team was eliminated in the third round after Doncic went down. Minnesota already had a big lead and it looked like the Mavericks would shrug their shoulders and resign themselves to a loss at halftime. Dallas has a tough road trip ahead of them with games against the Suns, Kings and Rockets coming up. It is likely that Luka will not play in any of them. Kyrie Irving and the supporting cast need to finish this game and come out on top for this stretch if they want to continue winning without Luka.

The Maverick bigs have gone punk

Both Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford seemed to be superior for long periods against Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle. In the last game against Portland, the Dallas duo dominated the mediocre Blazer bigs. But Minnesota’s frontcourt is a whole different animal, and it was disappointing to see such a performance. Lively played well in the Mavericks’ comeback attempt, but that didn’t negate the poor play early in the game. Much of Dallas’ identity rests on their strengths, so it’s hard to win when both are played off. However, kudos goes out to Maxi Kleber – he played incredible defense in the fourth quarter and even shot a few three-pointers today.

Maybe don’t wait until you’re 28 to play hard to get

The fourth quarter comeback was really fun and the Mavericks finally played with force. If they had brought that energy from the jump (or even after halftime), maybe they could have done it without Doncic. It’s nice that this team can flip the switch when needed, but when you spend three quarters farting around and going big, it’s difficult to pull off a miraculous comeback.