MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — LaMelo Ball made six 3-pointers and finished with 22 points and a season-high nine assists, and the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Dallas Mavericks 133-94 on Thursday night for their most lopsided victory of the season.
Bones Hyland scored 24 points off the bench to lead the Timberwolves, who won their fifth straight game. Ayo Dosunmu added 18 points, Jaden McDaniels had 16 and Jonathan Kuminga had 14 points and eight rebounds.
Minnesota shot 61% in the first half to build a 15-point advantage, then blew it open by outscoring Dallas 36-17 in the third quarter to open a 103-69 lead.
Zaccharie Risacher scored 22 points off the bench for the Mavericks, who had their three-game winning streak snapped. Cooper Flagg, who had 43 against Indiana in his last game, was held to 12 points and Kyrie Irving had just 10.
The Wolves beat the Mavs for the seventh straight time and did it easily. Their previous largest margin of victory in a game this season was 25 points and their 44-point lead in the fourth quarter was their biggest at any point this season.
Ball scored 16 points in the first half and Hyland came off the bench to make all three 3-pointers as Minnesota took a 67-52 lead to the break. A 17-4 surge out of the locker room extended it to 84-56 when Ball threw an alley-oop pass to Rudy Gobert.
Naji Marshall scored 13 points for Dallas, which shot 37%.
Mavericks: Visit Cleveland on Saturday.
Timberwolves: Host Chicago on Saturday.
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