The red hot Mavericks will look to get back in the saddle tonight after experiencing a rare home loss yesterday evening. Dallas will take on the wayward Timberwolves at the Target Center; the game between the two Western Conference foes is scheduled to tip off at 8:00pm ET. NBA Point Spreads have the Mavericks listed as a -7 against the spread road favorite and the game total set at 209.
Dallas had reeled off eight straight wins prior to last night's meeting with Memphis, but, as the saying goes, all good things
eventually come to an end. So it was last night for the Mavericks, which fell 103-104 to the Grizzlies in front of a packed American Airlines Center.
Dallas, which led by 17 points at the break, hit 37 of its 73 field goal attempts (50.7 percent) and it even dropped in 10 three pointers, but those numbers were not enough to overcome a blistering third quarter rally on the part of the Grizzlies. Memphis, which had six players in double figures, outscored Dallas 41-23 in the third frame, giving it the one point edge needed to escape with a victory.
The Mavericks got 26 points from Jason Terry and 23 from Dirk Nowitzki in the surprising loss.
Dallas blew a golden opportunity to gain a game on Southwest leader San Antonio, which was thrashed by the Lakers yesterday afternoon. The Mavericks, which trail the Spurs by 5.5 games in the division race, can cut their deficit to five games with a win over Minnesota tonight.
The Timberwolves closed a out a three game road swing on Saturday with a 96-103 loss at Washington. The setback, the second in a row for Minnesota, dropped the team's record to an abysmal 15-49.
All five Timberwolves starters scored in double figures, but the Minnesota bench accounted for a mere 16 points against the Wizards. The T-wolves, which got 20 points and 21 rebounds from Kevin Love, outrebounded Washington 48 to 44, but they were done in by 21 turnovers.
Minnesota (10-22 home) has lost nine of its last 10 meetings with Dallas. The Mavericks are 5-0 in their last five trips to the Target Center (14.2 average margin of victory).
Mavericks vs Timberwolves NBA Point Spreads March 7th, 2011:
Dallas Mavericks -7 (-110), Over 209 (-110), -300 (Moneyline)
Minnesota Timberwolves +7 (-110), Under 209 (-110), +250 (Moneyline)
