Streak hits 13 as Mavs thrash T'Wolves

Feb 28, 2007, 3:55 GMT

Minneapolis, MN - Dirk Nowitzki scored 23 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and led the Dallas Mavericks to their 13th straight win, a 91-65 rout of the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Mavs are now one win shy of their franchise-record victory surge, set at the start of the 2002-03 season.

Jason Terry scored 18 points and doled out seven assists, and Josh Howard came back from a sprained ankle suffered Monday night to score 17 points and rake in seven rebounds for the Mavs. DeSagana Diop pulled down 10 rebounds for Dallas, which has its second 13-game winning streak of the season. Dallas, which also had a 12-game winning streak earlier in the season, is the first team in NBA history to record three winning streaks of 12 or more games in one season.

They can tie the franchise record winning streak Thursday at home against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Kevin Garnett scored 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who shot a horrid 29.6 percent from the field. Ricky Davis also notched 15 points for Minnesota, which has lost four of five. Mark Blount added 10 points for the Wolves.

The Wolves appeared to be shaking out of their shooting doldrums early in the second half, opening the third quarter with a 13-7 stretch, and pulling to within single-digits. A Davis three capped the stretch, cutting the Mavs lead to 49-40.

That was as close as Minnesota would get, though, as Dallas quickly heated back up, and a Nowitzki three in the final minute of the third quarter posted the Mavs to a 68-53 lead entering the final 12 minutes.

'The second half, we ran a couple of plays for me and I was able to make some shots,' said Nowitzki.

Minnesota went out with a whimper in the fourth, scoring only 12 points as the Mavs coasted to their largest road win of the season.

'They're a pretty good team,' said Garnett of the Mavs, adding, 'We didn't shoot the ball particularly well, we didn't give ourselves a chance.'

A Terry three posted the Mavs to a 24-14 lead with 1:41 left in the first quarter, but a Davis three in the final minute pulled the Wolves to within 26-19 entering the second.

Minnesota scored only eight points in the second quarter, making only three field goals, squandering a rare bad offensive quarter by the Mavs, who only scored 16 points in the stanza. Minnesota missed its last 12 shots from the field in the quarter, though, and trailed 42-27 at the break.

The Wolves shot a paltry 22.7 percent in the first half.

Game Notes

The Mavs set two defensive records, as Minnesota's 65 points and 29.6 percent shooting performance were both all-time lows for Dallas opponents...The Mavs improved to 40-3 when holding the opposition under 100 points...Dallas outrebounded the Wolves, 54-39...The Mavs are 11-0 on the second night of back-to-back games.

© 2007 The Sports Network

Game Notes

.