As the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex emerges from its three-day winter standstill, the Dallas Mavericks (19-27) get back to regularly scheduled basketball programming on Wednesday, when they host the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves (28-19) at American Airlines Center.<\/p>\n
The sudden onset of winter weather caused the Mavericks to miss their game on Sunday in Milwaukee<\/a>, giving the team an extra day of rest after Luka Don\u010di\u0107 and the Los Angeles Lakers snapped the Mavs\u2019 four-game winning streak on Saturday, 116-110<\/a>, with a furious fourth-quarter comeback.<\/p>\n The Lakers outscored the Mavericks 37-17 in the game\u2019s final 9:35 on Saturday, and wintry precipitation in DFW kept the team\u2019s plane from taking off the following day, giving Dallas an extra day to stew in the melting puddle of misery that has been the 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n With the recent fingy injury suffered by Mavs forward Anthony Davis, we don\u2019t even have much excitement to look forward to with the NBA Trade Deadline little more than a week away. Around these parts, trade deadline hysteria season has given way to injury management season, as both Cooper Flagg (ankle) and Anthony Edwards (foot) are listed as questionable for Wednesday\u2019s game on the NBA\u2019s injury report as of 8:45 p.m. on Tuesday.<\/p>\n The basketball gods have spoken. We do not, in fact, deserve nice things. Even still, here are three storylines to watch when the Timberwolves come to town.<\/p>\n Edwards has played through ongoing right foot issues in recent games, but missed Monday night\u2019s 108-83 win over the Golden State Warriors with what was listed as \u201cright foot injury maintenance.\u201d The fact that he\u2019s generally been able to play through any pain associated with the foot injury, but got the night off on Monday, may point to the superstar guard being available on Wednesday in Dallas. Edwards is averaging 29.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game coming into Wednesday\u2019s matchup. His 29.7 points-per-game average is good for third in the NBA though 46 games, just a hair ahead of Boston\u2019s Jaylen Brown.<\/p>\n Flagg is also listed as questionable for Wednesday\u2019s game, getting the same \u201cinjury management\u201d designation as Edwards on the latest NBA injury reports. He missed a pair of games, both against the Utah Jazz, less than two weeks ago, so who knows when the rookie star\u2019s next off-day will come. Dallas seems to have two feet traveling in opposite directions, with some remarkable recent wins against seemingly quality opponents but a dismal outlook in the Western Conference standings with little, if any, hope of making noise down the stretch.<\/p>\n If both stars are available for their respective teams on Wednesday, the matchup clearly favors Minnesota, but the Wolves were mired in a muck of their own making before Monday\u2019s win over the Warriors. They came into that game losers of five straight, including losses at Utah and at home to the Chicago Bulls. They\u2019re part of the Western Conference contingent made up of teams that might be good enough to make a deep run even if they\u2019re not laying out a particularly convincing case at the moment.<\/p>\n The Timberwolves come into Wednesday\u2019s game fourth in the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage (37.2%) as a team. Much has been made of the Mavericks\u2019 inability to shoot the long ball this year and how much the lack of shooting has held the team back in the standings. Entering Wednesday\u2019s game, the Mavericks sit 24th in the NBA in the same category, at 34.5%. Dallas\u2019 recent four-game win streak was largely fueled by 3-point heaters from Klay Thompson and Max Christie. Christie has been the Mavs\u2019 lone bright spot from long range this year, shooting it at a 45.5% clip, good for sixth in the league as a sharpshooter.<\/p>\n Both Edwards (41%) and Jaden McDaniels (42.3%) shoot the 3-ball at above 40% for the Wolves, while big man Naz Reid comes into the game shooting it at a 39% clip. The Timberwolves own most of the matchup advantages against the injury-depleted Mavericks and have the ability to run the home team out of its own gym. What\u2019s plagued Minnesota during its recent run is a lack of focus and leadership that presents itself on the floor as a tendency to turn the ball over and let struggling teams stay in the game long enough for the tide to eventually turn.<\/p>\n