3 takeaways from the Mavericks' big win over the Timberwolves

The Dallas Mavericks picked up a big season-opening win against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night. Playing on the road for the second straight night, they left Target Center with a 120-114 win, confirming the team's preseason hype.

Anthony Edwards started the game red hot, but Dallas was able to limit everyone else's effectiveness and come away with the win. Here are three takeaways from Tuesday night's win.

READ MORE: Kyrie Irving leads Mavericks over Timberwolves in WCF rematch, 120-114

Luka Doncic was already feared by most Timberwolves fans because he defeated Rudy Gobert in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals last year. He gave them déjà vu by hitting a long shot late in the shot clock in the waning minutes to effectively put the game out of reach, and immediately turned to the crowd to talk nonsense. Once again, it wasn't a particularly great game from Doncic, as this was the only three-pointer he made in eight attempts, but he will always rise to the occasion.

Dallas was in a bit of a shooting slump early in the season, which had some people worried about the team's three-point threat. They helped address some of those concerns Tuesday night by shooting 15/31 from three-point range, outside of Doncic's 1/8 performance, even though Klay Thompson shot just 2/7. Kyrie Irving was 6/8, Quentin Grimes was 3/5 and PJ Washington was 3/6. When everyone else is shooting at a high level, it becomes impossible to stop their offense.

The Mavericks were somewhat lucky to leave Minnesota with a win. The Timberwolves attempted 26 free throws while Dallas attempted 18, but the Wolves made just 17 of them, with Anthony Edwards missing six free throws in a game they lost by six. He shot 83.6% from the free throw line in the final session and it's not often that he produces such a performance from the charity stripe. This is the second game in a row where the Mavs have allowed a lot of free throws, and they need to clean that up now that they have five home games coming up.

READ MORE: Luka Doncic suffers injury scare at Mavericks-Timberwolves

Stick with it Mavericks game day for more FREE coverage of the Dallas Mavericks throughout the 2024-25 season

Follow MavericksGameday on Twitter and Austin Veazey continued Twitter