Minnesota tops Dallas, sweeps 2-game NBA preseason set in Abu Dhabi

Karl-Anthony Towns and Naz Reid each scored 14 points, and the Minnesota Timberwolves topped the Dallas Mavericks 104-96 on Saturday to complete a two-game sweep of the NBA Abu Dhabi matches.

Anthony Edwards, who missed the first game on Thursday with an ankle issue, scored 13 for Minnesota.

Luka Doncic had 18 points, six assists and five rebounds in 19 minutes for Dallas, which was without Kyrie Irving (left groin), Seth Curry (illness) and Markieff Morris (left ankle).

Jaden Hardy led the Mavericks with 22 points and eight rebounds in a game where the majority of starters didn’t appear in the second half.

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Dallas never led in Thursday’s preseason opener; it had the lead only three times on Saturday — 3-0, 6-5 and 13-11.

Those stints with the lead were all short-lived, lasting a combined 2:13 and all coming in the game’s opening six minutes.

Other than that, Minnesota — riding the strength of a 27-7 run over a 10-minute stretch of the first half — was up the whole way. Dallas got within two in the fourth, with both teams deep into their benches at that point.

The Mavericks now head to Spain where they’ll play Real Madrid — Doncic’s former team — on Tuesday.

Doncic signed with Real Madrid when he was 13 and went on to become the youngest EuroLeague and EuroLeague Final Four MVP when he led the club to that title as a 19-year-old in 2018.

Minnesota doesn’t play again until Oct. 14 at New York.

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