The Minnesota Timberwolves didn’t just beat the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night - they squeezed the life out of their offense.
Minnesota rolled to a 39-point win, and the story was the same one that has followed this team all season: the defense set the tone and everything else flowed from there. Head coach Chris Finch said that pressure at the point of attack and the way his group handled Dallas’ switching helped the Wolves pull away.
“Our defense kind of just broke things open and gave us, you know, good transition stuff,” said Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch. “I thought we did a good job of handling the switching as the game went on too.”
Dallas entered the night with the league’s 12th-ranked offense, carrying a 115.2 offensive rating, but Minnesota dragged the Mavericks down to 94 points. That was a rough night all around for Cooper Flagg, who finished with just 12 points - more than 13 below his season average of 25.1 - and a minus-21.
Finch made it clear the Wolves knew exactly what kind of challenge Flagg would bring.
“(Flagg)’s a great young player, no doubt about it,” said Finch, regarding last year’s No. 1 overall selection. “He's got such a high motor, so you gotta match that first and foremost.
He's a physical player, so he loves to kind of draw contact and play off of that creative advantage. He gets to the line a lot, you know.”
That part of the plan worked. Flagg came in averaging 7.2 free-throw attempts per game, but Thursday night he got to the stripe only twice.
“I thought we did a good job of keeping him off the line,” said Finch. “That's huge.
When he has his big games, he’s getting there about eight, nine times a game. And you know, we're lucky enough to have guys like Jaden who have size and to be able to kind of bother him.
… And I thought (Jaylen Clark) did a really good job with him too, kind of like taking away his space to be creative. So it was just a lot of different looks, you know.
We're lucky - we're spoiled that way right now - and guys are really kind of doing it their own way, but, you know, collectively, good enough.”
In 3 career games vs. MIN, Cooper Flagg is now a -83 in 85 minutes. pic.twitter.com/tlWoehCgF8
— Alan Horton (@WolvesRadio) November 13, 2026
Finch pointed to his wings as the backbone of that effort, singling out Jaden McDaniels, Jonathan Kuminga, and Jaylen Clark for the way they worked together against one of the league’s most electric young scorers. Clark, in particular, drew praise for the little things that swing possessions.
“He's an outstanding defensive playmaker,” Finch said. “He's a very good defender in his own right, but he just makes plays.
He makes things happen. He goes and gets steals, he gets 50-50 balls, he gets his hands on things, he steals the inbound passes.
All kinds of things as a possessions guy, and those guys are super valuable. And we've challenged him to be way more consistent in the things that he does, and he's really responded, both ends of the floor.”
Minnesota now carries a five-game winning streak into Saturday’s game against the Chicago Bulls.
In Other News...
Timberwolves Defense Just Earned The Kind Of Respect Fans Notice
Before the game, the Timberwolves got a familiar kind of respect from the other sideline: a coach talking up Minnesotas defense before having to deal with it. Dusty May pointed to the Wolves one-on-one guarding and the way Rudy Gobert anchors everything behind it, which is the sort of praise that usually comes only after a team has spent enough time making life miserable for opponents. It also fits the broader reputation Minnesota has built around a defense that can hold up even when the matchups get tough.
Chris Finch, meanwhile, was already focused on the next challenge, discussing how Minnesota would try to contain Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving. That is the balancing act for the Wolves now, because the defense has become a calling card, but it still has to travel from reputation to execution every night. And when an opposing coach is openly acknowledging how hard it is to score against them, it says plenty about how far that side of the floor has come. [Read more 🡒]
Timberwolves Are Already Showing Why This New-Look Group Feels Different
A new-look Timberwolves group wasted little time making a statement at Target Center, rolling past Dallas by 39 points in a game that looked lopsided from the opening stretches. LaMelo Ball gave Minnesota the kind of steady offensive push that can make a reshaped roster feel instantly more coherent, finishing with 22 points, nine assists and two steals while keeping the attack moving and the pressure on.
What stood out just as much was the way Minnesota handled the other end. Jaden McDaniels, Jonathan Kuminga and Rudy Gobert helped set the tone defensively, and the Wolves made life difficult for Cooper Flagg throughout the night, never letting Dallas find much rhythm around its young centerpiece. For a team still defining its identity, this was the sort of performance that suggested the pieces may fit faster than expected. [Read more 🡒]
Cooper Flagg Gave Mavericks Fans One Bright Spot In Minnesota
Cooper Flagg gave Dallas one of the few bright moments in Minnesota, flashing the athleticism that keeps him such a compelling part of the Mavericks future even as the game tilted hard in the Timberwolves favor. The rookies burst stood out in a matchup that quickly got away from Dallas, but Minnesota kept control behind a strong all-around performance and kept rolling in a stretch that has the group playing with real confidence.
LaMelo Ball was at the center of it for the Timberwolves, helping turn the night into another statement win while Dallas was left to sort through the bigger picture. The Mavericks should look different when Kyrie Irving returns, but the schedule does not ease up, with Cleveland and Boston next, and those games will offer a much clearer read on where this team stands once it gets healthier. [Read more 🡒]