Minnesota didn't just extend its winning streak on Friday afternoon Australian time. It dismantled Dallas 133–94 at Target Center, turning a competitive opening quarter into a 39-point statement and winning a fifth consecutive game. With Anthony Edwards unavailable, the Timberwolves found their rhythm through LaMelo Ball's passing, Bones Hyland's bench scoring and a third quarter that left the Mavericks with nowhere to hide. The official NBA game breakdown confirms the final score and Minnesota's commanding finish.
Ball supplied 22 points, six three-pointers and a season-high nine assists, giving Minnesota the combination Dallas couldn't contain: perimeter shooting that stretched the defence and distribution that punished its reactions. Hyland went one better in the scoring column with 24 off the bench. It wasn't simply a case of a replacement star taking over. Minnesota had multiple guards generating pressure, and Dallas couldn't settle on which threat to prioritise.
The first half offered Dallas a foothold. The Mavericks were only 15 behind at the break, 67–52, despite Minnesota shooting 61 per cent. That deficit was serious but recoverable. Then came the third quarter: a 36–17 Minnesota avalanche that blew the margin out to 103–69. A 17–4 burst immediately after half-time included Ball finding Rudy Gobert for an alley-oop, a neat illustration of how Minnesota's outside creation opened the lane. The Associated Press game report details the decisive surge.
That sequence matters more than the final margin alone. Ball's six triples forced Dallas to respect him well beyond the arc; his nine assists showed he could exploit the extra attention rather than simply keep shooting. A defence that steps up to a confident shooter needs help behind it. Against a team willing to run and finish inside, that becomes a difficult trade-off. Minnesota's ball movement made the Mavericks choose, and neither answer worked for long.
Hyland's 24 points added another problem. The Timberwolves didn't need to squeeze every possession through their starting backcourt, and the reserve guard's production ensured their offence kept moving. Ayo Dosunmu contributed 18 points, Jaden McDaniels 16 and Jonathan Kuminga 14 with eight rebounds. That spread of contributors helps explain why Edwards' absence didn't drain Minnesota's attacking options. The NBA's official game recap records the 133–94 result.
Dallas, by contrast, had little response once Minnesota took control. Zaccharie Risacher led the Mavericks with 22 points off the bench, but Cooper Flagg was limited to 12 after scoring 43 against Indiana in his previous outing. Kyrie Irving managed 10. Dallas shot just 37 per cent from the field, and its three-game winning streak ended emphatically. The contrast between Flagg's previous scoring explosion and this quieter night captures how quickly an opponent's defensive pressure can change a young player's attacking environment.
Minnesota's victory was its most lopsided of the season, and the lead reached 44 in the fourth quarter. The Wolves have now beaten Dallas seven consecutive times. Those figures don't decide the next meeting, but they give this result context: Minnesota didn't scrape through on a hot shooting night. It built an early advantage, accelerated after half-time and kept Dallas from mounting anything resembling a comeback.
For the Timberwolves, the encouraging part isn't only that Ball and Hyland scored. It's how their different contributions fitted together while Edwards was out: long-range shooting, creation off the dribble, bench offence and enough frontcourt finishing to turn defensive indecision into points. Dallas will have to respond to the speed and spacing that overwhelmed it. Minnesota, meanwhile, has another example of a team attack capable of doing serious damage even without its headline scorer.
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