Wolves-Mavericks Game 4 updates (2024)

Behind Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns, the Minnesota Timberwolves salvaged their season with a 105-100 Game 4 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday.

Edwards nearly had a triple-double, leading the Timberwolves with a game-high 29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Towns topped the 20-point mark for the first time this series, adding 25 points and five boards before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.

Luka Dončić posted his sixth triple-double of this postseason in the loss, with 28 points, 15 rebounds and 10 rebounds. Kyrie Irving fell to 14-1 in closeout games, scoring just 16 points and dishing out four assists on 6-of-18 shooting.

Dallas still holds a 3-1 series lead entering Game 5 on Thursday in Minnesota.

Postgame reading

• Jon Krawczynski: Karl-Anthony Towns ‘came through big time’ to help Timberwolves stave off elimination
• Key takeaways: How Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves forced the series to a Game 5

___

Find the best deals on tickets to see your favorite teams.

DALLAS — There aren’t gimmes in the conference finals.

The Dallas Mavericks, a professional basketball team, knew that. What happened in Tuesday’s 105-100 Game 4 defeat to the Timberwolves was just a reminder with a hefty consequence, given that its chance at a series sweep has now been exchanged for another trip north to Minnesota. The team’s margin for error, always slim at this point of the postseason, had grown slimmer still due to center Dereck Lively II’s absence with a neck sprain. Without the rookie, the team had no real chance to overcome an abnormally poor evening from its superstar duo, Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving, who both took blame for the defeat.

“I think that game’s on me,” Dončić said. “I just didn’t give enough energy.”

Dončić still managed 28 points while tallying up a 15-rebound, 10-assist triple-double, but he was inefficient (7-of-21 shooting) and occasionally looked bothered by Minnesota’s team-defining defensive physicality in a manner he hadn’t in the prior three games. (While Minnesota’s most notable adjustment was tasking Anthony Edwards as Dončić’s primary defender, reserve Kyle Anderson seemed to get under Dončić’s skin most often. Anderson has been the most effective defender on the star for most of the series.) Typical of his night, even when he hit a magical shot — a 30-foot and-one 3-pointer that could’ve cut the lead to two points with 12 seconds remaining — Dončić missed the ensuing free throw.

Irving was affected more by the ramifications of Minnesota’s defensive switch-up, which turned Jaden McDaniels into his primary defender.

“It has a huge impact,” Irving said. “He’s a 6-9 wing defender who I’m seeing now from the first time from the start of the game, but I love it. I relish in these types of battles.”

With McDaniels guarding him more frequently, Irving finished with 16 points on 6-of-18 shooting. He seized some of the blame that Dončić had claimed for himself.

“A lot of this is on me,” said Irving, specifically indicating he needed to start the game better. “I had spurts, we had spurts, but I’ve got to put a full 48 minutes of a game together.”

Continue reading.

Tuesday's Minnesota Timberwolves win meant that, for the first time, Kyrie Irving lost a game with the opportunity to advance to the next round of the playoffs.

Irving was an incredible 14-0 in closeout games before the Wolves staved off elimination in Game 4. And he was typically pretty good in those games, too.

1. Cavaliers 101, Celtics 93, 2015 first round: 24 points, 11 rebounds
2. Cavaliers 94, Bulls 73, 2015 conference semifinals: 6 points
3. Cavaliers 118, Hawks 88, 2015 conference finals: 16 points, 5 assists
4. Cavaliers 100, Pistons 98, 2016 first round: 31 points, 5 assists
5. Cavaliers 100, Hawks 99, 2016 conference semifinals: 21 points, 8 assists
6. Cavaliers 113, Raptors 87, 2016 conference finals: 30 points, 9 assists
7. Cavaliers 93, Warriors 89, 2016 NBA Finals: 26 points, 6 rebounds
8. Cavaliers 106, Pacers 102, 2017 first round: 28 points, 3 blocks
9. Cavaliers 109, Raptors 102, 2017 conference semifinals: 27 points, 9 assists
10. Cavaliers 135, Celtics 102, 2017 conference finals: 24 points, 7 assists
11. Celtics 110, Pacers 106, 2019 first round: 14 points, 7 assists
12. Nets 123, Celtics 109, 2021 first round: 25 points
13. Mavericks 114, Clippers 101, 2024 first round: 30 points, 6 rebounds
14. Mavericks 117, Thunder 116, 2024 conference semifinals: 22 points

DALLAS — Here the Minnesota Timberwolves were again, holding a small lead in the fourth quarter of these Western Conference finals, just like they had in each of the first three games against the Dallas Mavericks. The score was 92-90 with a little more than five minutes to play. With the way this series had played out in the first three games, the Timberwolves might as well have been down 10.

The Wolves had the ball in the frontcourt as the shot clock ticked down, and that’s when Kyle Anderson started to orchestrate. The ball was in Anthony Edwards’ hands, and Anderson motioned for Karl-Anthony Towns, the Wolves All-Star whose jumper has been broken this series, to get to the corner.

As Edwards drove to the paint, he rose and could have easily taken a tough, but makeable, pull-up jumper. But Anderson pointed emphatically at Towns in the corner, and Edwards obliged. It did not matter that Towns had struggled so mightily shooting the ball in the first three games, including going 0 of 8 from 3-point range in Game 3. Anderson trusted him and so did Edwards, who zipped a pass to him.

Towns was in foul trouble all game, and much of that was his doing with some ill-advised reach-in fouls. He had just five points in the first half, not helping his cause after going 15 of 54 from the field and 3 of 22 from 3 in the first three games. But he had started to catch a rhythm in the third quarter, and the show of faith from his teammates in the fourth seemed to embolden him. He rose and drilled the 3, his second of the quarter, for a 95-90 lead.

He added another 3 a few minutes later to help the Timberwolves avoid a sweep with a 105-100 victory over the Mavericks. Towns finished with 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting, including four 3s, and five rebounds before fouling out. There were still some head-scratching decisions and ill-advised fouls, but this is the shotmaking form Towns the Wolves have been missing in three very close losses to start this series.

“Everything came together for him,” said Edwards, who had 29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. “He was super confident. He wasn’t worried about any of the shots previous to the shots he hit tonight. He played exceptionally well, and he came through big time. He was the reason we won tonight.”

Continue reading.

The next game in the Timberwolves-Mavericks series will tip at 8:30 p.m. ET on Thursday.

The game will be broadcast on TNT.

This early play stood out to me in this game. Some real "We're not ready for Cancun yet" vibes from the Timberwolves.

Jaden McDaniels arm-wrestles Derrick Jones Jr. to deny the wing entry pass. Meanwhile, Mike Conley switches onto Kyrie Irving, Rudy Gobert switches onto Jones on the dribble handoff, Conley denies the pass to Kyrie and then deflects it for a turnover.

These Timberwolves are loose after getting a win.

To end his postgame news conference, Anthony Edwards mentioned how he complimented Cowboys pass rusher Micah Parsons' wardrobe ... and told him he'd bring him a pair of shoes when he returns for Game 6.

Edwards also welcomed backcourt mate Mike Conley to the interview room while reminding reporters Conley is his "OG" and "old as f---."

All in jest, of course. Edwards exited with a "Thank you, Mike Conley."

"They're keeping me young, honestly," Conley said of his younger teammates. "I wouldn't wanna be anywhere else."

Funny exchange after the game between Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns during their joint news conference:

"What'd I tell you about fouling?" Edwards asked with Towns sitting to his right.

"You had five!" Towns replied.

"I didn't foul out," Edwards countered.

Good points all around. Edwards had a ton of praise for his teammate too.

"He was the reason we won tonight."

Dereck Lively II, even as a 20-year-old rookie, is the Dallas Mavericks' third-most important player. (I'm comfortable saying that definitively even if there are reasonable arguments others could make for the team's starting wings.) With the youngster wearing street clothes on the team’s bench after a brutal head collision last game, Dallas’ closeout effort in Game 4 was always going to require other players stepping up from unexpected places.

Maxi Kleber, cleared to play for the first time since suffering a shoulder injury in the final game of the first round, was the first one. With a backup center void needing to be filled, Kleber stepped in quietly but capably. Dallas needed a player with more size than Dwight Powell who could be trusted to properly make rotations, which Kleber did.

There were bench guards who stepped up, too. Jaden Hardy, a second-year guard who hadn't been in the team’s rotation until Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals, contributed 13 points off the bench. Dante Exum scored five more in a four-minute stint, his first points in the series.

These were the type of contributions Dallas needed to make up for Lively's crucial absence — if, alongside it, Dallas received the type of luxury shotmaking from its superstar duo that it's come to expect throughout this series.

Heading into the fourth quarter down five, it sure felt like that familiar formula was ready to be repeated.

But Luka Dončić (28 points) and Kyrie Irving (16 points) weren't as brilliant as they had been all series, combining to shoot 13-of-40 from the field. Dončić briefly restored that potential feeling of magic, nailing a 30-foot jumper with a foul with 13 seconds remaining. Typical of the duo's night, however, Dončić missed the free throw that would've cut the lead to two.

Dallas now heads back to Minnesota with an atypical chance to close out this series in a gentleman's sweep in a road arena. Dallas can win without Lively, but his return would surely make it easier.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result. So naturally, the Wolves found themselves in a one-possession game against the Mavericks with Minnesota's season on the line.

This time, however, the Wolves did something unfathomable in comparison to the other games of this series: They protected a lead in the final minutes and matched Dallas point-for-point in the clutch.

The Wolves held a five-point game with five minutes left. Multiple times, Dallas knocked it down to a one-possession game, but the Wolves attacked intelligently to win Game 4. Anthony Edwards made great decisions on offense, setting up Karl-Anthony Towns for a big 3-pointer. He made his own pivoting whirlwind of moves in the paint to knock down a short shot. He pulled up for a long 2-point jumper to keep the Mavs at bay. The Wolves may have held their lead together with band-aids and thread, but it held it together nonetheless.

This was the Edwards we've been waiting to see in the clutch. Intentional. Calm. Cool. Collected (outside of fouling Luka Dončić on a 3-pointer while up six). While he still works on convincing the refs to give him the star calls, he closed like the star player he is and the one he's projected to become.

Now... can they do it again in Game 5? Or better yet... avoid a clutch game altogether with a big win? Sounds insane, but ...

The Timberwolves "played well right out of the gate" en route to their Game 4 win against the Mavs, Wolves coach Chris Finch said in his postgame news conference.

"We weathered a lot of foul trouble out there, which was frustrating to say the least, but all credit to our guys," Finch said.

Karl-Anthony Towns fouled out late against the Mavs, while Rudy Gobert collected five fouls of his own. They combined for 38 points and 15 rebounds.

Minnesota still trails the series 3-1. When asked out the Game 4 win changed the complexion of the series, Finch was direct.

"It doesn't; we gotta win again."

The Timberwolves are on the board, in the most Timberwolves way possible. Nothing is easy for them, and this one wasn't either. They fought foul trouble all game and seemed to have the game iced with a six-point lead with 15 seconds to play. But they got some luck when Luka Dončić missed the free throw on a potential four-point play, allowing the Wolves to extend the series.

It was a redemption game of sorts for Karl-Anthony Towns. He has had a nightmare series, but hit 9 of 13 shots, including 4 of 5 3s, on his way to 25 points before fouling out.

This is the Towns the Wolves need in this series, minus the fouls. If they got shooting like that from him in the first three games (he was 3 for 22 from 3), this series would look entirely different.

Anthony Edwards was terrific as well, attacking the paint relentlessly and putting up 29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.

The Wolves now head back home for Game 5. They are still in a deep hole, but they fought like crazy to get this one, and may have revived Towns in the process. They have a chance, and that's all they wanted.

Belay that! Just when it looked like this thing was over, Luka Dončić just hit a pull-up 3 with 13.2 seconds left ... and got fouled by Anthony Edwards!

But Dončić missed the free throw, and Minnesota called timeout while clinging to a 103-100 lead.

With Karl-Anthony Towns out, Anthony Edwards needs to take over. And that's exactly what he did, hitting a pull-up midrange jumper to put Minnesota back up five with 38.8 seconds left after Dallas cut the Wolves' lead to 3.