Last June, the Dallas Mavericks were on top of the basketball world, while the Minnesota Timberwolves were at rock bottom.
Less than eight months later, the teams are separated by two games in the standings, and it’s hard to tell which club is better.
The Mavericks (15-11) and Wolves (13-13) meet for the third time this season in Friday’s best NBA game. Minnesota has won the first two, easily handling the defending champions. If the Wolves win again, they will be one game behind the Mavs in the Western Conference standings and own the tiebreaker.
On Jan. 1, the Wolves got their first win of the season, routing the Mavs, 99-82. On Jan. 25, they went to Dallas and were supposed to serve as patsies for the championship ring ceremony but instead rolled to a 105-90 victory.
In those two games, Minnesota outrebounded Dallas, 102-81, and limited the Mavs to 39 percent shooting. Rookie Ricky Rubio has collected 31 points and 19 assists and All-Star Kevin Love has bullied his way to 56 points and 27 rebounds.
Love has sat out the last two games while serving a suspension for stomping on Houston’s Luis Scola. 
But he will be back Friday looking to stomp on Dallas.
Both Love and Dirk Nowitzki of Dallas were chosen as West All-Star reserves Thursday. Many believe Love should be starting ahead of Blake Griffin, and there also is a faction that feels Nowitzki should not have been chosen at all.
After being rested for four games to improve his conditioning, Nowitzki appears to be coming out of a season-long funk. In the last three games, he is averaging 26.3 points on 61 percent shooting.