NBA Abu Dhabi Games: No Anthony Edwards, no problem as Timberwolves beat Mavericks

He was the star of the show for Team USA at the Etihad Arena in August, but high-scoring Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards was not on court to repeat his heroics against the Dallas Mavericks in a sold-out Etihad Arena on Thursday night.

Edwards, so impressive in the same building for Team USA against Germany just six weeks before, was ruled out ahead of the game against the Mavericks with a left ankle sprain in the first of an NBA Abu Dhabi Games double-header in the UAE capital.

But if the fans missed Edwards, Minnesota barely felt his absence as they rolled over the Dallas Mavericks for a 111-99 victory in front of NBA legends including Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Gary Payton and Ray Allen at courtside.

In August, Edwards hit 34 points in a 99-91 comeback win against a Germany side who have since won the Fiba Basketball World Cup in the Philippines.

Without him, the T-Wolves ran out to an early 25-7 lead in the first quarter behind a balanced attack, with nine from Karl-Anthony Towns.

UAE fans did get a show from Dallas’s own scoring star Luka Doncic, who filled up the stat sheet with 25 points for the losing side. Doncic, a one-man show for Dallas, finished the first period with 14 as his team trailed by 18.

Minnesota poured in 66 points by the end of the first half behind 18 points for forward Karl-Anthony Towns, who finished the game with 20.

In the second half, Dallas emptied the bench, replacing their starters with reserves in a desperate bid to reignite the game as a contest.

And the tactic worked for a while as the Mavs pulled it within eight in the third quarter.

But the Abu Dhabi crowd’s calls of ‘We want Kyrie’, referring to the Mavericks’ other star Kyrie Irving, were ignored by his coach. Irving played