DALLAS – Even well after the Timberwolves' careening 111-87 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, there remained some debate over exactly what was said during Friday's halftime at American Airlines Center.
There was no dispute, however, about a decisive second half in which the Wolves both trailed by 14 and led by 26.
Something changed in a team that star guard Jimmy Butler afterward admitted gets "complacent," settles and gets "too high on ourselves," perhaps particularly vs. Dallas (2-14), a team that has only beaten Memphis and Washington in the season's opening month.
At 10-5, the Wolves have tied the franchise record for their best 15-game start. They have done that four times, most recently in 2004-05.
Six days after they allowed a late 14-0 run in a horrible loss at Phoenix, the Wolves trailed by 14 twice in Friday's second quarter and then outscored Dallas 68-32 after intermission.
Included was a 27-6 third-quarter run that got them back into the game and a 21-4 fourth-quarter run that won it.
The Mavs went 7-for-25 from the field — 1-for-11 on threes — in the third quarter, when the Wolves' 13-for-20 shooting included 6-for-8 on three-pointers.
When asked what his halftime message was, Thibodeau simply said, "Try."
That's all? Really?
"I'll let him tell you," veteran Jamal Crawford said. "If that's his story, I'm sticking with it."
Butler proved more forthcoming, giving an unedited, profane version to reporters, the gist of which Thibodeau told his players to do their jobs and play with some energy while punctuating his address with some of the same fabulously feisty adjective.
"And win the game," Butler said, quoting his coach.
The Wolves obliged, ratcheting their defense and putting up 10 three-pointers in a second half, when they used runs of 27-6 and 21-4 to finally send the Mavericks quietly into the good night.
"Great spurt, great energy, great spirit," is how Karl-Anthony Towns described a second half that followed what he called a "very lackadaisical" first half.
The Wolves and veteran Taj Gibson held Dallas star Harrison Barnes to three points on 1-for-6 shooting in the second half after he had scored 15 before halftime.
"We came out of halftime saying we're going to make them miss instead of hoping they miss," Wolves point guard Jeff Teague said.
They also found answers for a Mavericks team that often plays three point guards together.
"We knew we played poorly in the first half," Thibodeau said. "We were disappointed with the way we played. The second half, the biggest adjustment wasn't schematic. It was intensity, us bringing the right intensity to the game. And once we did that, it changed. We got energy into our defense, which led to energy to our offense."
It didn't hurt that Butler, Teague and Andrew Wiggins all hit two threes after halftime. It didn't hurt any, either, what their coach said at halftime or how he said it.
When told Thibodeau said he simply told his team to "try," Butler said: "I don't know what he said then, if that's what he said. We already knew what we had to do. He came in here and let us have it a little bit. But when we play with energy, we're supposed to, we win.
"When we're playing defense, we're going to score enough points. We've already shown that. When we guard, get stops and stop taking ball out of the net every possession down, we're a much better team."
