When the entire NBA is listed as day-to-day, neither the Mavericks nor any other team can gripe about being shorthanded.
That said, their manpower shortage reached the critical stage on Sunday night at Minnesota.
It finally caught up with them in the fourth quarter at Target Center, when the Mavericks got run down in a war of attrition as the Timberwolves howled hard at the end and took a 111-105 victory.
The loss dropped the Mavericks back below .500 at 14-15 going into Tuesday’s chance for payback against Minnesota in Dallas. And in case it’s gone under the radar, the Mavericks now are four games behind the Memphis Grizzlies in the Southwest Division and they fell behind the 14-14 Timberwolves into ninth place in the Western Conference.