Player Ratings: Recapping Mavericks Vs. Timberwolves, 120-114

After a comeback win over the Jazz 24 hours earlier, the Mavericks traveled north to Minnesota to take on the Timberwolves. After being displaced in the Western Conference Finals of the Mavs last season, the Wolves had revenge on him. Despite a scorching hot start from Anthony Edwards, the Mavericks stayed close and used a third quarter to take the lead en route to a 120-114 victory to bring their record to 3-1.

In this article, we will summarize and rate each player’s performance for the night. Since we’re only a few iterations deep, we’ve again listed the ground rules for how we approach grading.

• Grades will be awarded to all Mavericks players who have logged meaningful playing time/stats.
• The grading system will use an alphabetical scale of: D, C-, C, C+, B-, B, B+, A-, A, A+ (for those who prefer a numerical scale, you will note that you can easily use these ten letter grades on a scale of 1-10 if you prefer – we love math people too).
• There is no F grade. It would defy credibility to categorize anyone capable of making an NBA roster as a “fail,” no matter how bad a game they had.
• Players will generally be graded by scale. In other words, a Luka A+ is going to look different than a Dwight Powell A+ for obvious reasons.

If a player logged mostly garbage time and had little or no stats, they will not be included or otherwise given an N/A instead of a grade.

Without further ado, here are the grades for your Dallas Mavericks in their win against the Timberwolves.

Luka Doncic: B-

24 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal

Luka had some nice numbers on some not so nice shooting. In the first game of this back-to-back, his percentages were terrible. Tonight they were marginally better, but his threes have taken a nose dive two nights in a row. After going 1-for-9 from three last night, he went 1-for-8 tonight. This is Luka, though, and the three he hit were a massive knock-out. With 1:04 left in the game, the Mavericks had a five-point lead and the ball. Luka was well defended, but pulled up for a three that was closer to the half-court line than the three-point line. Nothing but net to give the Mavs an eight-point lead.

Kyrie Irving: A+

35, points 4, rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal

For the second night in a row, Irving was blistered and looked to be much more in his groove than he did the first two games of the season. He again shot nearly 60% from the field and a whopping 75% from three, going 6-for-8 from beyond the arc. The only thing close to a blemish on his game tonight was when he inexplicably missed two free throws with 20 seconds left and the Mavs up by four points. Despite this, he gets top marks tonight because of his point total, huge three after huge three as the Wolves made the push, and ridiculous shooting percentages.

Klay Thompson: C+

7 points, 1 assist, 1 steal

In this season’s fourth game, Thompson finally had a subpar outing, going 2-for-7 from the floor (all three-point attempts). Even in a bad game, you could see the attention he gets just by being on the floor, which helped open things up for others. Still, this was a forgettable one.

PJ Washington: B+

17 points, eight rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal

Washington kept its momentum going with another nice play. Just shy of a second straight double-double, he shot 53.8% from the floor and 50% on threes (3-for-6), finally breaking through in that department. He actually cooled off as the game went on, but seems to be getting into a rhythm.

Derek Lively II: B+

5 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, 1 block

Lively’s box score won’t blow you away, but he had a big impact on this game with his interior defense and his effort to help offset Rudy Gobert. He grabbed four of his nine rebounds on the offensive glass and he forced turnovers with quick hands for a nice bunch of steals.

Naji Marshall: B-

4 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals

Marshall had a solid game, but still hasn’t shown his highest upside. He seems to be a bit more comfortable with where he is on the floor and reading the tendencies of his teammates. His biggest highlight of the night was undoubtedly the steal he got off Anthony Edwards with 13 seconds left in the game. This happened immediately after Kyrie missed two free throws and his quick hands put the game on ice.

Quentin Grimes: B

9 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal

Grimes broke out a bit in this one, scoring all of his points on a very efficient 3-for-5 from three-point land. His stat line wasn’t overwhelming, but it’s important to note that he did his damage in just 12 minutes of play and looked smart. He was in the right places at the right times and took advantage of his opportunities.

Daniel Gafford: B+

14 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block

Gafford continues to be Gafford. He’s consistently done what you’d expect, aside from shooting percentages that are lower than his league-leading percentage from last season. That changed tonight as he went 6-for-6 from the field. While it would have been nice to see a higher rebound total, again it was hard to see any major flaws in his game tonight.

Spencer Dinwiddie: C+

3 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal

Dinwiddie shot a paltry 1-for-5 on the night, and that shooting mark pretty much outweighs the rest of his resume for the night. A few rebounds and assists were good for his 18 minutes of action, but you only have to look to last night to see what he’s capable of on this team.

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