Without Kevin Love — who missed his first game of the season Thursday night against the Dallas Mavericks — one would think that the Minnesota Timberwolves probably shouldn’t expect much out of the power forward position.
That person (me) would be wrong, however, as Anthony Randolph performed admirably in Love’s position as the potential-laden power forward scored 31 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in 36 minutes of playing time on Thursday night.
Dirk Nowitzki, Randolph’s opposition from Dallas, nearly matched that output with 30 points and 11 rebounds of his own, however, as the Mavericks went picked up their 50th victory of the season in a 104-96 victory over the struggling Wolves. It was the 11th straight season that the Mavericks have won at least 50 games.
The Timberwolves actually led 94-93 at one point, but a three-point play from Tyson Chandler followed by a three-pointer from Jason Terry gave the Mavericks the lead for good.
The Wolves had four other players in double figures as Jonny Flynn scored 13, Michael Beasley had 12 while Wes Johnson and Anthony Tolliver each put in 11 of their own.
The Wolves play the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night before returning home to play Kevin Garnett and the Boston Celtics on Sunday.