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Saturday, Dec. 4 8:00pm ET
Mavs hand T-Wolves worst loss of year | |||||
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 GAME FLOW
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Gov. Jesse Ventura's eruption and coach Flip Saunders' ejection weren't enough to spark the Minnesota Timberwolves. Michael Finley scored 32 points and the Dallas Mavericks handed the Timberwolves their most-lopsided loss of the season, 103-84 Saturday night. Saunders was ejected by referee Ron Olesiak with 10:11 left, when he got two straight technicals for arguing. Malik Sealy received a technical just seconds earlier. "I didn't even swear at him," Saunders said. A few minutes later, Ventura got into a heated argument with the referees and with security as they tried to remove a fan at courtside. Ventura, who sits about 20 feet off the court behind the basket, pointed and screamed at the officials, prompting the 16,671 in attendance to chant, "Jesse, Jesse." According to Bob Goedderz, head of security at the Target Center, Ventura was telling security to "Arrest the official." The fan was allowed to stay. Meanwhile, on the court, Cedric Ceballos had 25 points and 12 rebounds and Dirk Nowitzki added 19 points for Dallas, which won its second straight game. "Wow, did we play well," Dallas coach Don Nelson said. "We've waited for a game like that for a long time." The Mavericks, who entered the game averaging 101.5 points per game, improved to 6-3 when scoring at least 100 points "Biggest of all road wins," Nowitzki said. "Beating a very good team on the road. Last year we lost all those games." Joe Smith added 10 points and 17 rebounds for the Wolves, who were without starting forward Wally Szczerbiak for the second straight night because of a sore right knee. "He's pretty much been day-to-day," Saunders said of Szczerbiak. "They (trainers) say he'll practice on Monday." The teams were tied at 45 at halftime, but the Mavericks never trailed in the second half. Dallas started the third quarter with an 18-8 run to take a 63-53 lead with 3:17 left. Finley scored eight during the run and finished with 13 in the quarter, as the Mavericks took a 74-62 lead into the fourth. "Terrible day at the office," said Kevin Garnett, who scored 20 points on 8-of-19 shooting. "UPS was late, lights going out, fax ain't working." The Mavericks shot over 60 percent in the first quarter and held the Timberwolves to just 25 percent, in taking a 29-17 lead. "When we are shooting 33 percent, we are not going to beat anybody," Saunders said. "You won't even beat a college team shooting like that." Game notesThe Timberwolves had lost by 15 to Utah on Nov. 22. ... Minnesota fell to 5-4 at the Target Center with three losses coming against sub-.500 teams. ... The Wolves will play nine of their next 12 games on the road starting in Seattle on Wednesday. ... The Wolves scored 17 points in both the first quarter and the third quarter, their worst first and third quarters of the season. ... Dallas played its fourth game in six nights on the road. The Mavericks are 2-2 on the current five-game roadtrip, which concludes in Milwaukee on Monday. ... Dallas, which has not outrebounded an opponent all season, was outboarded 50-44. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Dallas Clubhouse Minnesota Clubhouse RECAPS New York 92 New Jersey 82
Dallas 103
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