Preview: Timberwolves (7-10) at Mavericks (11-7)

Earl K. Sneed previews the Dallas Mavericks' Wednesday night matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves after the reigning titleholders are honored before the game with a championship ring ceremony.

DALLAS — Although it didn’t happen when they originally expected it to, the Dallas Mavericks will be honored properly for last season’s feats with a championship ring ceremony Wednesday night against former backup point guard J.J. Barea and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Ending a trilogy of celebrations, which included a championship banner celebration on Christmas Day and a trip to the White House to meet President Barack Obama, the Mavericks’ players and coaching staff will finally receive their own individual hardware to cherish forever. Still, with an upstart Wolves team invading the American Airlines Center in the second matchup of a four-game homestand, the Mavs know that they will have much work to do as soon as the ring ceremony ends.

“Well, I’m looking forward to [the ring ceremony], but this is like a 10-to-12-minute thing and then we’ve got to play a game,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “And so, this has been a wonderful trilogy of experiences — the banner, the White House and then the ring ceremony will be great. But we’ve got to be able to go from that feel-good moment to getting ready to be a bunch of [competitors] against this team coming in here. These guys beat us pretty convincingly last game and they’re dangerous. I mean, they beat the Clippers a couple of nights after we lost to the Clippers out in L.A. and they’ve won in L.A. So, they’re legit and we’re gonna have to be ready.”

“You’re very thankful and then also you have to turn on the switch of going out to beat your opponent,” point guard Jason Kidd added. “Hopefully we learn the first time around how to do that. … That moment is already gone. We accomplished that in June and we had our banner raised against Miami, so all this is past and the icing on the cake in the sense of being able to get the hardware finally. But this is a new season and we’re fighting for another ring.”

The Mavericks (11-7) will officially turn the page on the franchise’s first ever title Wednesday night with retired forward Peja Stojakovic joining Barea in the house to also receive their rings. And with the undersized Barea’s multi-year signing with the Wolves (7-10) as a free agent during training camp, he’ll make his return to the city where he played his first five seasons after entering the league undrafted.

“It’s gonna be kind of weird,” Barea said when his Minnesota team welcomed in the reigning titleholders back on New Year’s Day.

Battling a hamstring injury, Barea produced just eight points (all in the first half) on 4-of-11 from the floor against his old team. Still, with Minnesota finishing the game on a 15-0 run, the Wolves made sure the Mavs began 2012 on the downside of a 99-82 loss.

Wednesday night, the Mavericks will try to get even, although they’ll have to do so without leading scorer Dirk Nowitzki as he misses a third matchup of what’s expected to be a four-game hiatus while reconditioning a sore right knee.

With the knee ailing him after competing this summer with the German national team, Nowitzki didn’t fight Carlisle’s executive decision to shut the 7-footer down for at least four games. And with time to strength the knee as his team plays on in the shortened season, Nowitzki hopes to be at full strength when the Mavs finish up the homestand Sunday against San Antonio.

“I’m not helping right now anyways. The guys are better without me out there, so it just gives me time to really do some of the stuff I need to,” Nowitzki modestly said of the injury. “The knee was bothering me the last couple of weeks. I couldn’t lift or run and do the stuff I need to do. … This actually gives me time to really get back where I should be.”

The defending champs are also down swingman Vince Carter due to a sprained left foot that has kept him out of the team’s last four games. Without Nowitzki and Carter, the Mavs will not only try to avenge their loss at the Target Center but also try to extend their overall three-game winning streak and seven-game unbeaten stretch at home. To do so, however, the Mavericks will need to find an answer for the lethal offensive duo of Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio.

Love’s 25 points on 9-of-16 from the field and 5-for-6 from 3-point range came along with 17 rebounds the first go-round. Meanwhile, Rubio pitched in 14 points and dished out seven assists. Minnesota also ended the game with a 54-35 rebounding advantage and 10-of-22 shooting from behind the 3-point arc.

Although Michael Beasley, Malcolm Lee and Martell Webster did not travel with the team to Dallas, the Mavericks still know they’ll have their hands full when the Wolves arrive. Wednesday night, with the arrival of Love’s second-best rebounding average in the league of 13.9 boards a game, Carlisle admits that his team will have to pay extra attention to the glass in order to get a fourth straight victory. The coach also says that the Mavs’ big men will have to be active in the interior if the Mavs are going to keep Love from dominating inside.

“With Kevin Love coming in here and their active big guys — [Nikola] Pekovic, Darko [Milicic] and [Derrick] Williams, who is a real athletic guy around the basket — hey, we’ve got to protect the paint and we’ve got to go get the ball,” Carlisle empathically said. “It’s gonna be another big challenge for us.”

Note: The Mavericks return to action in the second matchup of a four-game homestand Wednesday night when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves with a championship ring ceremony before the game. The Timberwolves-Mavericks game will air locally on Fox Sports Southwest at 7:30 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-6287.

Single-game tickets are on sale and available at the American Airlines Center North Box Office, online at mavs.com, via phone by calling 214-747-MAVS or 1-800-4NBA-TIX and all Ticketmaster outlets (Fiesta Grocery Stores, Wal-Mart, Simon Mall in Garland and the Shops at Willow Bend in Plano).

Dr. Pepper Family Nights are here! Plans include four Mavs tickets and four McDonald’s extra value meals, starting at $49. Visit mavs.com or call 214-747-MAVS for a schedule of games and to purchase tickets.