Ayo Dosunmu recorded his second career triple-double, finishing with 18 points, a career-high 15 rebounds and 12 assists to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 124-94 road rout of the Dallas Mavericks on Monday.
With All-NBA guard Anthony Edwards coming off the bench and limited to 22:37 of playing time in his return from a knee injury, Dosunmu stepped up to shoulder some of the offensive load.
Minnesota (46-29) came into the contest off of its second-lowest scoring performance of the season, managing just 87 points in a 22-point loss to the Detroit Pistons on Saturday, but the Timberwolves bounced back as seven players scored in double figures.
Edwards was among the contingent, amassing 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Monday marked his first appearance after a six-game absence. Naz Reid and Bones Hyland joined Edwards off the bench scoring 12 points each.
The Timberwolves’ Rudy Gobert posted 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Julius Randle netted a game-high 24 points. Donte DiVincenzo, who logged 15 points, knocked down a trio of 3-pointers to help fuel a 19-4 Minnesota run.
The spurt, spanning almost four minutes midway through the third quarter, effectively blew the game open.
The Timberwolves led by no fewer than 18 points the rest of the way, and they were up by as many as 33 points in the fourth quarter.
After leading in the opening minutes, Dallas (24-51) surrendered two 8-0 runs in the period, forcing the Mavericks to play from behind for most of the contest.
Daniel Gafford led Dallas with 21 points on 9-of-11 field-goal shooting, while Rookie of the Year hopeful Cooper Flagg was held more than eight points below his season-long scoring average with 12 points on 5-of-19 shooting from the floor.
Flagg’s shooting struggles extended beyond the 3-point arc, where he was 0-for-3. As a team, the Mavericks shot just 7-for-29 (24.1%) from long distance to Minnesota’s 14-for-31 (45.2%).
Brandon Williams came off the bench to finish with 15 points, six rebounds and a team-high seven assists as Dallas lost for the sixth time in seven games.
–Field Level Media
