For most of the last decade, Minnesota Timberwolves and Dallas Mavericks match-ups have been virtually meaningless. For two different reasons, that wasn’t the case tonight in Dallas.

The Timberwolves have undergone a renaissance of renewed quality and excitement this season with the arrival of Ricky Rubio and the always progressing game of Kevin Love. Since Kevin Garnett left in 2007, the Timberwolves have been nearly unwatchable, but they are entertaining and talented this season with their young stars on the floor and Rick Adelman running the show from the sidelines.

Since the arrival of Dirk Nowitzki, mediocrity has never been an issue for the Mavericks, so that wasn’t their reason for excitement. For Dallas, tonight was the night players from last year’s team had long awaited, as they received their championship rings from a year ago in a pre-game ceremony. Judging by all the misty eyes of MFFLs, it may have been a little dusty in the American Airlines Center as the rings were handed out player by player. The Mavs and their fans took one last night to remember last year’s legendary season with the ring ceremony that finally concluded a nearly seven month long championship celebration.

While it was another historic night in Dallas that took place over this magical year, the end of the celebration finally closed the chapter on last season and allowed the Mavs to fully focus on the season at hand. Players obviously are grateful for their success and the support of the fans, but it’s been apparent recently that they’ve become more and more ready to close the door on last season and make repeating their success the priority.

The last time the Mavericks had a pre-game celebration, their focus clearly wasn’t on the game that followed as they got hammered by the Miami Heat 105-94 after raising their championship banner on Christmas Day. Considering the Mavericks have already lost to the Timberwolves once this year, 99-82, in a game that Minnesota controlled the whole way, it was in their best interest to move on from their ring party and take their opponent seriously. Minnesota used to be a team that didn’t require such a serious attitude, but these aren’t your slightly older cousin’s Timberwolves.

After hitting two three-pointers to close the first half, Minnesota carried that momentum into the third quarter and outscored the Mavs by eight to take a six point lead into the final frame. It was mainly Rubio and Love who had their way with the Mavs tonight as they both has double-doubles, and the former nearly had a triple-double.

Behind their two young cornerstones, the Timberwolves 105-90 win pushed the Mavs to an 0-2 record after celebrations this year. That may not be an official stat, but it speaks to the difficulty Dallas is having on their pursuit to constant effort and focus from game to game this season. The Mavs were without Dirk Nowitzki for the third straight game, but obviously that’s no excuse for the lack of execution and defensive intensity.

The Mavericks also said goodbye to their 15-game streak of holding opponents under 100 points, as Minnesota tore that up with two minutes remaining in the game. The Wolves are no longer a pushover in this league and these are games the Mavericks may expect to lose from now on when they are without their superstar.

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle agreed with that notion.

“We didn’t deserve to win tonight,” Carlisle admitted in a frustrated state after the game. “They’re pretty good, number one. Number two, we haven’t played well.”

In hindsight, a 2-1 record so far without Nowitzki is a positive sign, but at the same time the Mavericks remain a far cry from where they will need to be in order to have another ring ceremony next season.

Although Dallas may be sick of celebrations now considering how poorly they seem to play following such events.