Jaden McDaniels scored a career-high 27 points and Anthony Edwards added 21 as the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves held on to beat the Dallas Mavericks 115-114 on Wednesday night.
Mike Conley added a season-high 18 points for Minnesota, which snapped a two-game losing skid and won the season series against Dallas 2-1, with the road team winning all three matchups.
The Wolves held a 111-102 lead with 3:02 remaining before Dallas scored the next six points, including P.J. Washington’s layup with 59 seconds left.
After Edwards made one of two foul shots, Kyrie Irving hit a 3-pointer with 22.3 seconds left to cut the deficit to 112-111.
Conley made a pair of free throws to make it a three-point game before Irving missed a game-tying 3-pointer with 5.0 seconds left. The Wolves sealed the game when McDaniels made one of two free throws.
Irving, who hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to account for the final score, led Dallas with 36 points and nine assists. Washington scored a season-high 30 points, Daniel Gafford had 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Maxi Kleber scored 10 points off the bench.
The Mavericks shot 27.6 percent (8 of 29) from 3-point range and lost for the fifth time in their last six games.
Julius Randle scored 16 points, Rudy Gobert added 14 and Naz Reid chipped in 12 off the bench for the Wolves, who shot 45.7 percent from the field and 37.9 percent (11 of 29) from 3-point range.
Dallas led 22-17 at the end of the first quarter after closing on an 11-0 run. Minnesota was held to 4-of-16 shooting (25 percent) in the opening period.
The Wolves bounced back in the second quarter, shooting 61.9 percent from the field to move ahead 55-53 at the half.
Randle converted a three-point play with 4:33 left in the third quarter to give Minnesota an 82-74 lead, and the Wolves held an 86-82 advantage at the end of the period.
Minnesota extended its lead to 99-87 on Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s 3-pointer with 9:27 remaining in regulation before Dallas responded with a 13-2 run.
The short-handed Mavericks played without several key players, including center Dereck Lively II, who is expected to miss two to three months with a stress fracture in his right foot.
–Field Level Media
