Timberwolves hold off Mavericks 105-100, avoid WCF sweep

NBA

The Wolves stayed alive in their first trip to the conference finals in 20 years, and only the second in the franchise’s 35 seasons.

By SCHUYLER DIXON, Associated Press

May 29, 2024 | 00:47

DALLAS (AP) — Karl-Anthony Towns finally found his rhythm and the Timberwolves finally closed out a game in the Western Conference finals.

Now they head back to Minnesota to see if they can make things even more interesting against Dallas.

Towns scored 20 of his 25 points in the second half and the Wolves held off the Mavericks 105-100 Tuesday night to avoid a sweep.

Anthony Edwards had 29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists as the Wolves stayed alive in their first trip to the conference finals in 20 years, and only the second in the franchise’s 35 seasons. The fifth game will take place Thursday evening.

Towns, who was shooting 28 percent from the field in the upcoming series, was 9 of 13 from the field, including four of five from 3-point range. And that was after committing a fifth foul midway through the third quarter.

“Be aggressive,” Towns said. “Now is not the time to have doubts in your mind, especially right now, it’s game 4, down 3-0. Now is not the time to have doubts.

Luka Doncic had 28 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists in his sixth triple-double of these playoffs, but he and co-star Kyrie Irving were just 13 of 39 from the field. Irving, who was 14-0 in his career in closing games, made just 1 of six from long range and finished with 16 points.

“This game is for me. I just didn’t give enough energy,” said Doncic, who was 7 of 21 from the field, including 1 of 5 in the fourth when he and Irving combined to close to build the team’s lead. large series. “They won a game. We just have to focus on the next one.

The Wolves led in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter in every game in the series, and this time they finished.

Towns gave the Wolves the lead for good on a 3-pointer with 5:41 left, then hit another from deep the next time. His third 3 of the final quarter gave Minnesota a six-point lead with three minutes remaining.

“He was super confident,” Edwards said. “He wasn’t worried about the shots before the ones he hit tonight. He played exceptionally well.

Edwards gave the Wolves a five-point lead with a jumper from just inside the arc with 39 seconds left, and Minnesota held on despite Edwards fouling Doncic on a 3-point shot for a deficit three points in Dallas with 12 seconds remaining.

Doncic missed the free throw and Naz Reid hit a bucket to cut the lead to five with 11 seconds left.

“It’s hard to close out in this league,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said after his team shot 29 percent from 3 in the second half. “Understanding that we didn’t play our best. Give Minnesota credit. They did it.

The biggest sign of Towns’ pace came in the third, when he scored 10 points in the first seven minutes before committing his fifth foul for elbowing PJ Washington Jr. in the face as Towns attempted a shot.

The call against Towns resulted in a technical foul against Minnesota coach Chris Finch from the second line, where he has been confined since the start of the second round of the playoffs due to a knee injury that required surgery . Assistant Micah Nori remained on the sidelines.

Finch flirted with a second technical, which would have meant an ejection, a few minutes later when Edwards was booked for his fourth foul for a steal against Daniel Gafford.

“Him being on the sidelines but behind the bench for the majority of these playoffs, you forget the impact he can have,” said Mike Conley, who scored 14 points. “When your coach is explaining techniques and yelling and you see him hobbling around to do it, it’s impressive. It lit a fire on all of us.

Towns fouled out in the final two minutes, while Edwards and Rudy Gobert, who had 13 points and 10 rebounds, finished with five apiece.

“We overcame a lot of issues, which was frustrating to say the least,” Finch said. “Credit to our guys. They found a way to win the game. It was a lot like Games 1 and 2, and we managed to do it tonight.

The Wolves avoided being the 16th team out of 21 to get swept after losing the first three games of a series that began at home. Now they will try to be only the fourth to force at least six games.

Jaden Hardy scored 10 of his 13 points in a 3:38 span that flowed into the first bucket of the fourth quarter, a corner 3 that brought Dallas within two. Four of the game’s 11 lead changes came in the fourth.

The Mavs were without rookie center Derek Lively II, who injured his neck when Towns accidentally kneed him in the back of the head in Game 3.

Maxi Kleber, out since May 3 with a separated shoulder, returned to give Dallas another option inside. But Daniel Gafford didn’t have his usual partner as a rim protector at center, and the Wolves shot a season-high 53 percent from the field.