Dusty May didn’t need much time to see what went wrong for Dallas on Thursday night. After the Mavericks were blasted 133-94 by the Minnesota Timberwolves, the first-year NBA head coach pointed straight to LaMelo Ball and the damage he caused.
Ball carved up Dallas with 22 points, nine assists and six made 3-pointers, helping fuel Minnesota’s offense from start to finish. May, who is in his first season leading an NBA team after a long run in college basketball, said the Mavericks simply didn’t have an answer once Ball found his rhythm.
“I think it's painfully obvious that once he gets going like that & he's making shots off the dribble from 26, 28 feet, we've gotta figure out a solution for it. But then he's able to get in the paint & break you down when you do push up & put two on the ball. When he has it going like that, he's an extremely tough cover & he played well tonight,” May said, per reporter Mike Curtis.
The loss came after Dallas had opened the season with encouraging early results, and May has helped guide the team to a winning record through 10 games. But this one was a rough reminder of how quickly things can go sideways against a team rolling on offense.
Dallas had five players reach double figures in the defeat. Zaccharie Risacher paced the Mavericks with 22 points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block. Naji Marshall added 13 points and four assists, Cooper Flagg finished with 12 points and seven rebounds, and Kyrie Irving and PJ Washington each scored 10.
The Mavericks dropped to 7-5 and sit 10th in the Western Conference. They are above the Phoenix Suns and the New Orleans Pelicans, while trailing the Denver Nuggets and the Memphis Grizzlies.
Dallas gets its next chance to respond on the road against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m. ET.
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Victor Wembanyamas latest surge has turned San Antonios 10-game win streak into more than a hot stretch. The Spurs big man has been piling up historic nights, including a run that matched Tim Duncans mark for 30-point, 5-block games and a span that made him the first player since blocks were tracked to average at least 35 points and 5 blocks over five games. He has also logged multiple 40-point games in under 30 minutes, a reminder that this is no ordinary early-season heater.
For a franchise that has spent years searching for its next cornerstone, the debate around Wembanyama is no longer about potential. It is about how quickly he is forcing himself into the leagues top tier, and how far this version of the Spurs can go with him driving the conversation on both ends of the floor. The numbers keep getting stranger, the ceiling keeps rising, and the rest of the NBA is left trying to catch up. [Read more 🡒]
Mavericks Blowout Loss Exposed A Problem Fans Can't Ignore
The Mavericks had a decent opening stretch against Minnesota, but it did not last long. The Timberwolves, playing without Anthony Edwards because of a knee injury, steadily took control and turned the game into a lopsided 133-94 loss, building a big cushion by halftime and never letting Dallas back into it. Several Mavericks struggled to find any rhythm as the night slipped away, leaving the kind of result that sticks with a team long after the final buzzer.
Caleb Martin was one of the few Dallas players who offered anything resembling a positive sign, giving the staff at least one usable takeaway from an otherwise ugly performance. But the broader issue was hard to miss: when the game tilted, the Mavericks had no real answer, and that is the sort of problem that becomes impossible to ignore when a loss gets this out of hand. [Read more 🡒]
Cooper Flagg Gave Mavericks Fans One Bright Spot In Minnesota
Even in a rough night in Minnesota, Cooper Flagg gave Mavericks fans something to remember. With Dallas already chasing the game, the rookie flashed the kind of athletic ability that can cut through a lopsided score and remind everyone why his long-term upside matters, especially on a roster still trying to find its footing.
The bigger picture was less encouraging for Dallas, which had Kyrie Irving back in the mix but still spent much of the night trying to dig out of a deep hole. Minnesota kept rolling behind a big performance from LaMelo Ball, and the Mavericks now move on to a demanding road trip with stops against the Cavaliers and Celtics, looking for a sharper response. [Read more 🡒]