Timberwolves Loss to Mavs ‘Just Typical’

MINNEAPOLIS - The Minnesota Timberwolves took a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter and held a two-point lead with just over two minutes to play Monday night against the Dallas Mavericks. But as they have 50 times this season, the young Wolves lost – a 108-105 Mavs win.

"We did a pretty good job tonight, we played well,” Timberwolves head coach Kurt Rambis said. “Just typical of us. We go up and down during a ball game, but we did a good job.”

Just about everything was typical of the Wolves Monday night: a Kevin Love double-double (his 51st straight), an evaporating lead, and a relatively inefficient 20 points (on 8-22 shooting) from Michael Beasley.

"I think kind of what it's been all year,” Wolves guard Luke Ridnour said. “Making little stops here and there, making the right plays when we need to. It's never at the end of the game. It's throughout the whole game. Little runs, we let them go on. It's just part of a learning process that everyone on this team, we all have to get better at it."

The Wolves made their runs with Dirk Nowitzki on the bench. Nowitzki spent most of the game in foul trouble, but managed to score 25 points in 27 minutes. But the Mavs got a lift from a face familiar to the Target Center crowd -- Brian Cardinal, who added 12 points.

When Nowitzki went to the bench with foul trouble late in the third, the Wolves went on a 15-0 run to take a ten point lead into the final period. But Jason Terry and Nowitzki stepped up, and near-perfect fourth quarter free throw shooting by Dallas kept the Wolves an arm’s length away.

"They just gained momentum, and with a team like that, that's one of the few teams that people are picking to come out of the Western Conference,” Love said. “You can't let them do that. We gave them a good run down the stretch but it was just too little too late."