Anthony Edwards‘ inspiring positivity and admirable confidence – even in the face of overwhelming odds – helped the Minnesota Timberwolves earn at least one victory in the Western Conference finals.
Edwards’ attitude even robbed off on Timberwolves All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns who struggled offensively in the first three games of the series but delivered the fourth game.
Edwards, Towns and the Timberwolves avoided a sweep against the Dallas Mavericks with a 105-100 victory in Game 4 on Tuesday night.
Edwards had 29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, and Towns had 25 points.
The Timberwolves are 3-0 in elimination games in the 2024 playoffs.
Game 5 is Thursday in Minneapolis, where the Mavs took the first two games of the series. If Minnesota can make it a 3-2 series, it puts pressure on Dallas to close out the series at home in Game 6 because it doesn’t want to play a Game 7 on the road.
Getting there is a challenge. No team has come back from 3-0 deficit to win a series in the NBA playoffs, and just four of those teams down 3-0 have forced a Game 7.
But first things first.
It was far from a perfect game for the Timberwolves, whose 15 turnovers led to 30 Dallas points. But Towns had his best game of the series. He entered Game 4 shooting just 27.8% from the field and 13.6% on 3-pointers but was 9-for-13 and 4-for-5 in the win. Towns had 20 points in the second half: 10 in the third and 10 in the fourth.
The Timberwolves shot 52.7% from the field and 45.8% on 3-pointers. When shots go down, a player and team look much better.
The Timberwolves were held onto a lead late in the fourth quarter, something they had been unable to do in the first three series. A Towns 3-pointer extended Minnesota’s lead to 98-92 with 2:54 left in the fourth, and Edwards made a 3 with 39.7 seconds to go for a 102-97 Timberwolves lead.
Minnesota, which owned the No. 1 defense in the regular season, held the Mavs to 42% shooting from the field and 35% on 3s. All-NBA guard Luka Doncic had a triple-double (28 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists) for the Mavs, who were without injured All-Rookie center Dereck Lively II (sprained neck).
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBA playoffs: Minnesota Timberwolves defeat Dallas Mavericks in Game 4