Kyrie Irving’s home debut with Dallas a thriller but it was the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves who left American Airlines Center with a 125-124 win.
Minnesota led by as many as 26 points in the third quarter and held an 18-point lead at the start of the fourth before Irving erupted. His 3-pointer with 28 seconds to play cut Minnesota’s lead to 123-121 and gave Irving 26 points in the quarter.
Mike Conley hit one of two free throws for a 124-121 lead with 14.8 seconds to go. Out of a timeout, Dallas’ two-man game between Irving and Luka Doncic was stymied by Jaden McDaniels and Anthony Edwards and forced Irving into a game-ending turnover.
Edwards led the Wolves with 32 points. Rudy Gobert had 21 points and 18 rebounds, Jaden McDaniels scored 19 on 7-of-8 shooting and Mike Conley had 12 points and 9 assists.
“That’s what me and Jaden out here for. We out here to get a stop, so put us on the best two players and see what we can do,” Edwards said on Bally Sports North after the win.
Irving led the Mavericks with 36 points and Doncic scored 33. They combined to hit 25-of-43 shots, including 6-of-13 from 3 and 13-of-17 at the free-throw line. Christian Wood had 24 points off the bench but no other Dallas player scored more than 6 points.
Minnesota opened up the second half on a 20-6 run, picking up off a first half in which they shot 60% from the field.
The win has the Timberwolves within a half-game of Dallas for fifth place in the Western Conference playoff race and just one game behind Phoenix for fourth.
Minnesota returns home for a Thursday night game against Washington, which is the last game before the All-Star break.
