Timberwolves wondering how Mavericks can be slowed down
By DAVE CAMPBELL
Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Timberwolves didn’t practice Thursday. They must have needed the time off to catch their breath.

Down 2-0 to Dallas in their best-of-five series, the Timberwolves are frantically trying to keep up with the sharp-shooting, running-and-gunning Mavericks, the NBA’s highest-scoring team.

Minnesota faces a sixth straight first-round ouster from the playoffs unless it can slow things down in Sunday’s Game 3 at Target Center.

“Hopefully their shots don’t go down in our building,” said Wally Szczerbiak, who combined with Kevin Garnett and Chauncey Billups for 81 points in Game 2 Wednesday night.

The Wolves shot better than 50 percent and still lost by 12, 122-110.
Dallas had six players with 13 points or more and made 11 three-pointers.

Said Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, who has 61 points and 30 rebounds in two games: “When we make our shots and we run the ball, I think we can beat anybody in the league.”

The Timberwolves would find it hard to argue. After out-rebounding Dallas 58-39 in a seven-point loss in Game 1, Minnesota figured it could even the series by cleaning up some sloppiness and playing better on offense.

Improvements were made in Game 2, but the Wolves found themselves trailing by four at the half after shooting 61 percent in the second quarter and down by as many as 13 in the third.

Whether it was Nowitzki draining a long jumper, Michael Finley speeding past Szczerbiak on a fast break or Steve Nash dashing to the lane on a drive, Dallas left Minnesota in the dust and played at a pace Garnett likened to an Indy car race.

“We still didn’t do a lot of things right,” Van Exel said. “We can score more points, if they want to run with us.”

An emblem the Timberwolves are using to promote this year’s playoffs shows a silhouette of Garnett, arms raised high above his head to encourage the crowd.

Now the logo might more accurately be depicting Garnett throwing his hands up in frustration. As in, how do we stop them from scoring?

“At times, I didn’t think I defended well and maybe I didn’t do some other things that well, but I’m not thinking as an individual,” Garnett said. “I’m thinking what we have to do as a whole.”

The best bet is to get back on defense to prevent so many easy baskets. A fast start to get the Target Center crowd going would also be a big help.

“We go with what’s worked for us,” Finley said. “The up-and-down game is what got us our success in the regular season, and we’re not going to go away from it. We’re a fun team to watch.”

For everyone, maybe, but the Timberwolves.

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