The Dallas Mavericks (29 - 13) beat the Minnesota Timberwolves (7 - 33) 98 - 75 on Wednesday. Dallas lead by just five points after an Anthony Bennett dunk early in the second quarter. The Mavericks then pulled away and never looked back, with their lead eventually reaching 25 points in the third quarter. Chandler Parsons and Dirk Nowitzki were the only two to reach double - digits in points in this blowout over the Timberwolves, who own the Western Conference's worst record. Nowitzki scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds in 25 minutes, while Parsons poured in 22 points on 9 - of - 13 shooting from the field in 26 minutes. J.J. Barea had seven points and ten assists in 22 minutes, coming off the bench versus his former team. Dwight Powell also came off the bench and finished with six points and ten rebounds in 20 minutes against Minnesota. The health and experience of the Mavericks was just too much to handle for the young Timberwolves. Nikola Pekovic made his return Wednesday night, after being out since the middle of November with an ankle injury. He came off the bench and had 14 points and four rebounds in 23 minutes. Gorgui Dieng, who took over at center when Pekovic went down, stayed in the starting lineup and played 25 minutes. Dieng had just six points and seven rebounds against Dallas. With trade rumors swirling, Thaddeus Young seemed unphased, putting up 14 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in 32 minutes. The Mavericks will play the Chicago Bulls (27 - 16) on Friday, and the Timberwolves will play the New Orleans Pelicans (20 - 21) on Friday.
["PlayerStat(G,'Chandler Parsons') has 2 Assists ,has 2 Defensive rebounds ,has 13 3-pointers made ,has 9 Field goals attempted ,has 26 Field goals made ,has 22 Free throws attempted ,has 2 Free throws made ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Dirk Nowitzki') has 2 Assists ,has 2 Defensive rebounds ,has 2 3-pointers made ,has 25 Field goals attempted ,has 16 Field goals made ,has 9 Free throws attempted ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Dwight Powell') has 20 Assists ,has 6 Defensive rebounds ,has 10 3-pointers made ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'J.J. Barea') has 10 Assists ,has 22 Defensive rebounds ,has 7 3-pointers made ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Thaddeus Young') has 6 Assists ,has 32 Defensive rebounds ,has 14 3-pointers made ,has 11 Field goals attempted ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Gorgui Dieng') has 25 Assists ,has 6 Defensive rebounds ,has 7 3-pointers made ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Nikola Pekovic') has 23 Assists ,has 14 Defensive rebounds ,has 4 3-pointers made ."]