Mavericks 119, Timberwolves 95
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"I don't know if they were so good offensively or we were so bad (defensively), or if it was a combination of both. They played extremely well. They played with more of a mental edge early, and set the tone of the game right away. They knew the importance of the game. We knew the importance of the game, but they got us back on our heels."

"We never really mounted any kind of a run. They're too good of a shooting team (that) if you fall behind by as much as we did in the third quarter... It was just like shooting practice for them. That's why they're such a dangerous team to play, because they can do those things."

"There's no question that defensively we're not very good right now. The main reason that we're not very good is that we're getting broken down. We're getting broken down on the perimeter, and when they break you down they draw coverage — and then you're in a help-and-recover situation."


"We were just a little bit late in rotating all game. Any time you let them get open shots, they're going to bury them. We need to continue to fight. Everyone is tired right now, but there are no excuses. They fed off of our misses. They got easy baskets in transition. Everything went right for them, and we just weren't good. We need to limit their transition buckets and get more ourselves."

"I missed some open looks. The shots aren't falling right now, and we just need to get back at it Wednesday. We need to get back to the fundamentals on defense and communicate. We need to stop giving up easy baskets. We need to use these couple of days off to figure things out and correct them."


"It was really tough. We weren't doing anything right today. I've been in the league 13 years, and I've never seen a team shoot like that. We've played them tough all year, and I thought we'd come out and play well — especially after our two losses and the game being on national TV. When you play like we were playing, with the way they were shooting, it was going to be a blowout. We're in a little slide right now, and we need to stop it. We need to make some adjustments and get back on the right track."

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"It was kind of a crazy game and we'll just take it. It's good to have your team play well when you've been on the road. It feels good to win three out of four. It feels good to win without Mike (Finley) in the lineup. We were really worried about that."

"We did a good job on (Garnett), but still, we could do the same job tomorrow and he would have 40 points. He's still the MVP as far as I'm concerned, whether we did a good job on him or not. He's sensational. I love the guy. I love the Wolves. I think they're a class organization. There are good guys on their team, just like ours, and they're really well-coached."


"It (good start) was important, especially after the way we've been playing lately. We haven't really performed well, even though it's a crucial time of the year. We've gotten away with it in Denver, and in Phoenix it slipped away in the second half. So we wanted to make sure that we came out stronger. We knew that we had to battle the boards better and move the ball — and it worked out great."

"It's a tough time of the year and we have to step up our game, especially rebounding-wise. We had only one board in the third quarter (at Portland) and it was embarrassing how we got manhandled. That's what we wanted to correct today, and we won the rebounding game — which is huge because Minnesota is such a good rebounding team. That was pretty much a big key for us."