Inside Report: Mavericks-Timberwolves preview — Mavs look to rebound against Love, T-Wolves

Earl K. Sneed reports from Minneapolis, as the Mavericks match up with All-Star forward Kevin Love and the Timberwolves, looking to put a last-second loss to Memphis out of their minds.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — A grueling 82-game NBA schedule can often serve as both a gift and a curse over the course of a season. But with the Mavericks in the midst of one of their toughest stretches on the schedule, they hope to come out saying that they’re battle-tested, while other teams would limp out of the month of March with a sense of defeat.

Taking the court Monday night just 24 hours after having their eight-game winning streak snapped, the Mavericks (45-17) will continue their stretch of four games in five nights while hoping to rekindle their success following a 104-103 defeat in Dallas to the Memphis Grizzlies. And after Zach Randolph’s game-clinching jumper with just .3 seconds remaining downed the Mavs, forward Dirk Nowitzki says that he and his teammates will immediately have to put the loss out of their minds, heading into Minnesota one night later to take on All-Star forward Kevin Love and the Timberwolves.

“We’ve got to recover from this (Monday night) and grind it out,” Nowitzki said after the loss. “Whatever we’ve gotta do to get this win (Monday night) we’ve gotta do.”

But according to coach Rick Carlisle, his team will first have to address what went wrong against the Grizzlies, when the Mavs watched as a 17-point halftime advantage disappeared after allowing a season-worst 41 points in the third quarter.

“We didn’t take the challenge at either end. And look, the whole game was the third quarter,” Carlisle explained. “You give up 41 points, turn it over six times and basically don’t take the challenge, you get what you deserve. That’s basically the bottom line … The bottom line is that our disposition wasn’t there in the third quarter the way it needed to be. It’s as simple as that.”

“They just took it to us, it’s as simple as that. We turned the ball over, gave up offensive rebounds, and 41 points is a lot to give up in one quarter, especially after a pretty decent first half,” Nowitzki added.

But things don’t get any easier for the Mavericks, even despite the fact that the Timberwolves (15-49) sit with the worst record in the Western Conference.

That’s because Love is walking in rare company, just a game shy of tying Philadelphia 76ers great Moses Malone with a record 51 consecutive double-doubles, the longest such streak since the league merger. Love will try to match the record with the Mavs looking to do what no team has successfully down in that span, somehow keeping the big man and the Wolves from thriving on Minnesota’s home floor when the two teams collide at the Target Center.

The Mavs know, however, that won’t be an easy task if they are once again without center Tyson Chandler in the middle of the lineup.

Chandler has missed two games due to a sprained right ankle and his status for Monday night’s contest is unclear. When the Mavericks handed the Minnesota team a 100-86 loss in Dallas back on Dec. 1, Chandler outrebounded Love, 18-15, while the 7-footer’s squad finished with a 50-46 edge on the boards.

But if Chandler is slated to miss his third straight game, then the rebounding responsibility will fall to backup big men Brendan Haywood and Ian Mahinmi, as the two try to keep Love from controlling the game in the painted area. And according to Carlisle, the Mavs must first be able to keep Love and his teammates from creating second-chance opportunities by controlling the battle on the glass, making defensive rebounding the No. 1 key to handing the Wolves a 50th loss.

“Love is the leading rebounder in the game right now, so he’s a top priority. But they’ve got length — Darko (Milicic) has got length, (Michael) Beasley at 3 has got length … They do a good job of going after the ball, and they lead the league in possessions before you even factor in offensive rebounds, and they lead the league in offensive rebounds. That’s the reason they lead the league in shots taken. So, they’re tough to guard,” Carlisle said.

Carlisle just hopes that the Wolves aren’t even tougher to defend if Chandler remains sidelined.

Meanwhile, the Mavericks will once again look to display the balance they showcased in the rout of the Timberwolves the first go-round, when forward Shawn Marion led five players in double figures with 16 points. And as was the case in that December meeting when the Mavs jumped out to a double-digit lead before halftime, Marion says that he and his teammates will have to come prepared to play from the opening tip in order to keep the Wolves from building confidence over the course of 48 minutes.

“They’re a spunky, hard team and young. They come in and play hard and compete,” Marion said of the Wolves. “But we had to make sure we made a statement early (in December). You can’t leave teams like that around or give them confidence.”

Note: The Mavericks will look to get back on track in Minnesota against the Timberwolves on Monday night, in a game that will tip off at 7 p.m. CT. The showdown will air locally on Fox Sports Southwest.

The team will then journey to New Orleans for a Southwest Division matchup with the Hornets on Wednesday night. The two teams split a home-and-home series earlier in the season to knot the series at 1-1. That matchup will also tip off at 7 p.m. CT, airing locally on Fox Sports Southwest.

The Mavericks return to the American Airlines Center on Thursday night, hosting Carmelo Anthony and new-look New York Knicks. Tip-off for that game will be at 8:30 pm. CT, airing nationally on TNT and locally on Fox Sports Southwest. Great seats are still available and tickets can be purchased by visiting the American Airlines Center box office, logging on to Mavs.com or by calling 214-747-MAVS (6287).

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