MINNEAPOLIS _ Somebody has to be in last place and when the Timberwolves withstood Dallas Monday night at Target Center for a 101-92 victory, it's the 2011 NBA champion Mavericks who now languish alone at the Western Conference's bottom.
Both teams entered Monday's game with identical 11-26 records, so something had to give.
It ended up being the creaky, old Mavs, particularly if compared to a young, dynamic Wolves team that this time managed to hold onto another double-digit lead.
Leading by 21 points in the second quarter and ahead by just three points early in the fourth quarter, the Wolves pushed back in the fourth quarter and led by as many as 14 points in the final two minutes.
They played most of that fourth quarter without injured young star Zach LaVine while Ricky Rubio and seldom-used Tyus Jones played on in the backcourt.
The Wolves also still had Karl-Anthony Towns and that was plenty.
Towns finished with a 34-point, 11-rebound night, including 32 points and 10 rebounds in the first three quarters alone.
Ricky Rubio had a 13-point, 15-assist night, too.
Their work helped the Wolves outlast the Mavericks and helped the Wolves end a four-game losing streak while they extended Dallas' losing streak to three games.
"Hey, you look at our record," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said before the game. "Same as Minnesota's record? Pretty meaningful game tonight if you really look at it. Both teams should be very motivated."
Unless, of course, you're Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau, who just shrugged any notice that staying out of last place rested in the balance.
"I just concentrate on what's in front of us," he said. "Just come in, work hard, be consistent, put everything you have into each day. Try to learn, try to improve, try to get better and get ready for the next one."
Towns and Mavericks' new max man Harrison Barnes exchanged baskets much of the night in a power-forward match that favored Towns' size and inside game at one end and Barnes' mobility and shooting at the other.
Barnes, meanwhile, scored 30 points, 10 of them in a third quarter when the Mavericks got back within as few as three points after they had trailed by 21 in the first half.
Dirk Nowitzki added 26 points for Dallas, including five 3-pointers made.
Towns' 34-point night was his fifth 30-point game of the season and his first since he scored 41 points in a Dec. 17 game against Houston that his team blew in the game's closing minutes.
The Mavericks ended the night in the West's 15th and final place while the Wolves, believe it or not, at 12-26 are still just three games behind Portland for the West's eighth and final playoff spot even though their 14th in the West standings.
The Wolves closed the game without LaVine, who left the game very early in the fourth quarter because of a hip contusion and did not return.
The Mavs also finished the game without center Andrew Bogut, who left later in the fourth quarter because of a strained hamstring.
The Wolves led 23-13, 33-19 and 44-23 before the second quarter was four minutes old before the Mavericks pushed back with a 20-6 run that slashed the deficit to just 50-43 with two minutes still left before halftime.
The Wolves countered by extending their lead back to 11 points before Nowitzki ended the half with a 3-pointer that sent Dallas into halftime trailing 54-46.
Nowitzki made three 3-pointers in the first half's final 2 { minutes to help keep the Mavericks close.
By then, he had expanded his lead as the opponent with the most career 3-pointers made at Target Center.
After he made five Monday, Nowitzki now has 57 in his career at Target Center, ahead of Derek Fisher's 48, Chauncey Billups' 46, Rashard Lewis' 45, Jason Kidd's 42, Kobe Bryant's 41 and Steve Nash's 40.
