LaMelo Ball’s 31-foot 3-pointer came 43 seconds into the third quarter, putting Minnesota ahead 70-53 and turning a difficult night for Dallas into a runaway. The Timberwolves went on to beat the Mavericks 133-94 Thursday in Minneapolis, with Ball and Bones Hyland supplying 11 of Minnesota’s 15 3-pointers.
The shot did not arrive in isolation. Ball had already built the framework for Minnesota’s perimeter attack, and Dallas never matched the quality or volume of the Timberwolves’ long-range production. Minnesota finished 15-of-32 from beyond the arc, or 47%. Dallas made 13 of 48, or 27%.
Ball’s first half was a steady series of increasingly ambitious makes. He hit from 24 feet at 8:45 of the opening period, made another 24-footer at 5:40, then connected from 25 feet and 27 feet in the second quarter. The 27-footer, with 4:41 left before halftime, gave Minnesota a 53-45 lead.
He finished with 22 points, nine assists and six 3-pointers on 10 attempts. His passing also gave Minnesota’s offense another route to the basket. Ball assisted Jonathan Kuminga on a first-quarter dunk and Rudy Gobert on an alley-oop late in the second, part of nine assists overall.
Dallas had to account for the shot, the pass and the drives that followed, while Ball kept producing without needing a large number of free throws.
Dallas did make enough perimeter shots to remain within reach for stretches. Flagg hit from 25 feet with 4:56 left in the second quarter, and Irving made a 24-footer at 1:47. Those baskets helped the Mavericks reach halftime with 52 points. Marshall added a 23-footer early in the third. Across the full game, however, Dallas’ 35-of-94 shooting could not match Minnesota’s 58% return.
Then came Ball’s long 3-pointer. Minnesota followed it with Ayo Dosunmu’s 22-foot jumper, Jaden McDaniels’ two-point basket and Kuminga’s 25-foot 3-pointer. When Gobert converted an alley-oop layup at 8:02, the Timberwolves led 84-56. Minnesota won the third quarter 36-17, and the margin had grown from 15 points at halftime to 34 by the end of the period.
Hyland made the advantage harder to contain from the bench. He hit a 29-footer with 3:50 left in the first quarter, then a 24-foot step-back at 1:05. Early in the second, he added a 25-footer.
Hyland finished with 24 points, eight assists and five 3-pointers on six attempts. His scoring was important, but his passing also appeared in the sequence of the game: the play-by-play credits him with assists on Dosunmu’s 24-foot pull-up and Jaylen Clark’s 24-foot 3-pointer.
Those shots helped Minnesota close the first quarter with a 34-26 lead. Hyland was not simply waiting for catch-and-shoot chances; the scoring record includes a step-back and a 29-footer, and he also supplied assists alongside his scoring. That combination gave Minnesota another creator after Ball had established the game’s perimeter terms.
