‘Took it personally’: NBA superstar avoids humiliating playoffs first as epic series continues
Anthony Edwards scored 29 factors and Karl-Anthony Towns produced a vital late burst of long-range capturing because the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Dallas Mavericks 105-100 on Tuesday to maintain their NBA Western Conference finals sequence alive.
Minnesota, trailing 3-0 within the best-of-seven sequence heading into recreation 4, held off a livid late rally to shut out a battling victory on the Mavericks’ house enviornment.
Get on Board the NBA Finals | Every recreation of the NBA Finals LIVE on ESPN, accessible by way of Kayo. New to Kayo? Start Your Free Trial Today >
Edwards led the Minnesota scoring however the decisive contribution got here from Towns, who drained a trio of three-pointers to assist the Timberwolves take a 98-92 lead with lower than two minutes remaining.
Edwards prolonged the cushion to 100-92 by way of a soar shot with 1min 47sec left on the clock to depart Minnesota in management.
But there was nonetheless time for Dallas to offer the third seeds a nervous finale, closing to inside three at 100-97 earlier than Edwards’ elegant pull-up jumper from 21 ft put the Timberwolves 5 factors clear with 40 seconds left.
The guests held that benefit via to the buzzer and now have slender lifeline to cling to as they head to recreation 5 again in Minneapolis on Thursday.
Edwards stated afterwards he had been decided to forestall Dallas clinching a clear sweep.
“I’ve never been swept in my career, even though I’ve been to the playoffs three times,” Edwards instructed TNT tv.
“I took it personally.
MORE COVERAGE
Celtics star’s late dagger sinks underdogs as Boston secure series sweep to book NBA finals spot
‘One of a kind’: Basketball in mourning over NBA icon’s death
‘So scary’: Sickening head blow mars another thriller as NBA Finals picture becomes clearer
“I definitely didn’t want to get swept, especially here on their home court, hearing the fans talking trash all day. I think we came out and competed at a high level today.
“I think I was aggressive. I didn’t shy away from the ball and they kept giving it to me and trusting me,” added Edwards.
Dallas in the meantime have been left pissed off after dropping regardless of one other triple double from Luka Doncic, who completed with 28 factors, 15 rebounds and 10 assists.
Doncic nonetheless had an off-night from long-range, making simply four-of-11 from three-point distance. As a group, Dallas went 14-from-40 outdoors the arc.
“This one’s on me,” Doncic stated after the loss. “We got to do better. They’ve won one game, we’ve just got to focus on the next one.
“It was close in the end but we couldn’t finish. So they won and now we just have to focus on the next one.” Towns completed with 25 factors, with Mike Conley including 14 and Rudy Gobert 13.
