After all, there won’t be a pair of sweeps in the conference finals this postseason.
After struggling to get past Luka Dončić and the Dallas Mavericks early in the series, the Minnesota Timberwolves are finally on the board. The Timberwolves took the lead in the fourth quarter on a huge second-half performance from Karl-Anthony Towns and earned a 105-100 victory in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals at the American Airlines Center on Tuesday night.
The win marks the first of the series for the Timberwolves and forces a Game 5 in Minneapolis on Thursday night. However, the Mavericks still hold a 3-1 series lead, and they are just one win away from their first NBA Finals trip in 13 years. The Timberwolves, who have never been to the Finals, need to win three games in a row to stun the Mavericks and make NBA history.
KAT, Timberwolves get off to a late start
The Timberwolves jumped all over the Mavericks early Tuesday night, taking out almost everyone but Dončić in the first 12 minutes. The Mavericks shot just 6-of-21 from the field to open the game, and they were outscored by a big 14-2 to the Timberwolves.
However, the Mavericks came alive before halftime. They went into the locker room tied at 47-47, having used some big runs to get right back into the game. The Mavericks also trailed turnovers by 20 points in the first half.
After scoring just five points in the first half, Towns started playing much better than on Sunday, where he was just 5-of-18 from the field and 0-of-8 from behind the arc. He opened the game shooting 6-for-7 from the field and he hit a 3-pointer early in the third to cap an 8–0 run and put the Timberwolves back in front in the period. But Towns picked up his fifth foul of the night just after the middle of the quarter.
Timberwolves coach Chris Finch also received a technical foul after Towns’ fifth foul. That sent Towns to the bench. Despite losing him early in the period, the Timberwolves still took a five-point lead into the fourth quarter.
The Mavericks tied the Timberwolves early in the fourth and closed the gap to a one-possession game almost immediately, thanks in part to a wild and-one from Dončić to Derrick Jones Jr. – who easily threw it over Rudy Gobert.
However, the Timberwolves didn’t finally start to pull away until midway through the fourth quarter, after Towns drilled back-to-back three-pointers. That put Minnesota ahead by five at the time and led to an 11-2 run that Towns added to a few minutes later with his fourth three-pointer of the night. But with the Timberwolves up by eight, Towns picked up his sixth foul of the night and was forced out of the game early.
Despite a quick 5-0 burst from the Mavericks to cut it to one possession almost immediately with Towns on the bench, Edwards answered with a bucket of his own to keep them at bay. This allowed the Timberwolves to hold on for the five-point win and force a new match in the series. A late, desperate 3-point heave from Dončić, which left Edwards stunned, did not make the difference in the final seconds.
Edwards led the Timberwolves with a near triple-double in the win. He had 29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Towns finished with 25 points and five rebounds while shooting 9 of 13 from the field. He also went 4-of-5 from behind the arc. All five Timberwolves starters scored in double figures and shot nearly 53% from the field as a unit.
Dončić finished with another triple-double for the Mavericks. He had 28 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists in the loss. Kyrie Irving added 16 points and four assists after hitting just 1 of 6 from behind the arc. Irving was a perfect 14-0 in career closeout games entering Tuesday’s game. The Mavericks did bring back Maxi Kleber on Tuesday night after he missed more than three weeks with a shoulder injury. He played 13 minutes from the bench. However, Dereck Lively was ruled out due to a neck injury he suffered in Game 3. It is unclear when he can return.
Game 5 of the series takes place on Thursday evening in Minneapolis. While it will take a historic comeback to keep their postseason alive and set up a battle with the Boston Celtics, the Timberwolves have now taken the first step.
