The Timberwolves’ comeback attempt fell short Monday night, as they fell to the Dallas Mavericks 100-94, in Ricky Rubio’s return to the Wolves lineup.
Minnesota rallied from a 21-point deficit to pull within two points in the fourth quarter, but the Mavericks closed the door and held on for the victory.
The Mavericks improved to 25-0 on the season when leading heading into the fourth quarter.
Monta Ellis led Dallas with 23 points, while Chandler Parsons had 18 and Dirk Nowitzki chipped in 16 points and seven rebounds.
Dallas led wire-to-wire as they opened the game by building a quick 10-0 lead and pushed it to as many as 21 before halftime.
But the Wolves got things going as Kevin Martin led the way with 19 points. Thaddeus Young played well, scoring 15 points and grabbing nine rebounds and Andrew Wiggins chipped in 14.
Most of Wiggins' buckets tonight came off of him just making things happen himself. Need to get him more shots within offense
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) February 3, 2015
In his first game back in the Wolves lineup Rubio made an impact, even though his time on the court was limited to 21 minutes. He scored 10 points, grabbed three rebounds and dished out four assists.
The Wolves (8-39) return to Target Center on Wednesday night to face Miami.
