A lump of coal in Dallas’ stocking on this Christmas Day matchup
The Christmas comeback fell short for the Dallas Mavericks (19-11), as a 28-point hole they dug for themselves in the third quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves (15-14) proved too deep to climb out from.
Luka Dončić left the game with a calf strain late in the second quarter, and Kyrie Irving tried to drag Santa’s sleigh on his own for large chunks of the rest of the game. He led all scorers with 39 points on 14-of-27 shooting, including five made 3-pointers on the afternoon.
Anthony Edwards led the Wolves with 26 points, while Plano Prestonwood alum Julius Randle added 23 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Here are three key stats from the Christmas miracle that wasn’t.
10: Consecutive missed Dallas shots to end first half
The Mavericks shot just 32.6% from the field in the first half and missed their final 10 shots across the final 5:30 of the second quarter. Dallas has scored 40 or more points in a quarter three times this season but could only manage 40 points in the first half on Christmas Day.
Dončić led the team with 14 points when he left the game with a left calf strain with less than three minutes left in the second quarter, and the vibe immediately shifted as he limped to the locker room. Three of the Mavs’ last four shots of the half were rushed or off-balance 3-pointers.
Dallas shot just 3-of-10 from the restricted area in the first half on their way to digging that 17-point hole at the break.
16-of-48: Shooting from non-Kyrie Mavs through three quarters
Kyrie Irving stepped into the primary scoring role as soon as Dončić went out late in the second quarter, but coming back from what ballooned into a 28-point deficit late in the third quarter would require more than one great scoring performance. Unfortunately, no one showed up to help Irving on the offensive end.
Irving was shooting 9-of-18 from the field through three quarters, while his teammates were collectively just 16-of-48.
Three-point plays on consecutive possessions early in the fourth quarter put Irving at 30 points for the game, and that sequence seemed to finally awaken some of his teammates. Klay Thompson, PJ Washington and Quentin Grimes got into the act as visions of sugarplums danced in the Mavericks’ heads.
22-5: Mavs’ run across 3rd and 4th quarters
The Timberwolves built a lead as large as 28 points, on Neal Alexander Walker’s drive through the lane with 1:23 left in the third quarter. With Minnesota leading 90-62 at the time, the Mavs scored the final five points of the third and outscored the Wolves 17-5 to start the fourth quarter. Klay Thompson’s third 3-pointer of the game, which put him ahead of Reggie Miller for fifth all-time in made threes, then Maxi Kleber’s first, pulled the Mavs all the way to within 11, down just 95-84 with 8:14 left to play.
Another driving 3-point play from Irving came against Mike Conley and pulled Dallas to within 97-91 with 3:38 left in the game. Irving was nothing short of stellar in Dončić’s absence.
Dallas cut the lead to as little as two points, down 101-99 after Thompson’s fourth 3-ball of the game with just 1:01 to play, but Irving took a questionable 3-pointer from extra long range inside a minute remaining the next time down. Anthony Edwards drove through the teeth of the Mavs defense on the ensuing Timberwolves possession to put Minnesota up four with 18.6 seconds left on the clock.