Timberwolves Extend WCF With Game 4 Win Over Dallas Mavericks: 3 Game-Changing Plays

Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns combine for 54 points as the series heads back to Minnesota

May 28, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) dribbles as Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) defends during the third quarter of game four of the western conference finals for the 2024 NBA playoffs at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Go return your brooms, they're not needed here.

Minnesota left it all on the line in a do-or-die game, knowing they'd be going home if they lost. After two days of heckling from the media towards Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards, it was going to be interesting to see how they'd play in this game. After all, this series has been decided by whose stars were stepping up, and in the first three games, it was Dallas' Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.

The Timberwolves came out FIRING. The Wolves were up 12 in the first quarter as Anthony Edwards refused to go down easily. In the first quarter alone he had 14 points. It was announced before the game that he was going to be guarding Luka Doncic, who had his own hot start offensively, but the Wolves were just playing better overall.

READ MORE: Dallas Mavericks Drop Possible Closeout Game 4 with Loss Against Minnesota Timberwolves

Outside of Doncic, who was 3/8 in the first quarter with 10 points, the Mavs were just 3/13 from the floor and had 10 points.

The Mavericks stormed back in the second quarter by getting to the free-throw line as Edwards, Towns, and Rudy Gobert all got into foul trouble. Dallas took a small lead but a Wolves lineup of Mike Conley, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jaden McDaniels, Kyle Anderson, and Naz Reid scrapped their way to have the game tied at halftime. I thought at halftime that Dallas not taking advantage of that lineup would do them in, and it did.

Dallas led for the early part of the 2nd half, but Towns had 10 points in the third quarter to guide them to a 5-point lead heading into the 4th quarter. The score would be tied a couple of times and Dallas took a couple of small leads, but three made triples by Towns in a three-minute span started to put the game on edge, which is where we pick up the plays.

Anthony Edwards reading the defense.
Karl-Anthony Towns making them pay. pic.twitter.com/DJ3WHp3wpT

— Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) May 29, 2024

Karl-Anthony Towns was money in this game when he wasn't dealing with foul trouble. This is just one example of it. He was 4/5 from 3 and this one from the corner pushed the lead to 6 with just over three minutes remaining. Daniel Gafford had nailed a reverse dunk to bring the lead down to 3 right before this and Towns continued to put the game out of reach.

This is a good rub screen in the corner by Kyle Anderson to free Towns in the corner, something that has worked for them this series with various players. Jaden McDaniels has hit some of these, Naz Reid has gotten some of these looks... Dallas has to recognize these actions and the double-big pick-and-rolls with Towns and Rudy Gobert. They can shut off a good handful of points from Minnesota if they can be more effective on those actions.

He'd foul out not long after this but left his impact on this game.

Kyrie HUGE! pic.twitter.com/McpcsQzLWG

— MavsHighlights (@MavsHighlights) May 29, 2024

Kyrie Irving struggled this game but hit some shots with his left hand. This finish over Gobert got the lead back down to 3 with about a minute remaining.

He'd only finish with 16 points while shooting 6/18 from the floor as his perfect record in close-out games has its first blemish. He's done and said all the right things in this series and it was only natural he'd have a down game, but he'll have to respond next game.

ANT-MAN. CLUTCH.

Timberwolves go back up 5 with 38.8 seconds to play as they look to force Game 5.

📺 TNT pic.twitter.com/pHg1foj8cW

— NBA (@NBA) May 29, 2024

Any chance of a comeback pretty much died here. This is ice-cold by Anthony Edwards.

He started to fade down the stretch, only scoring six points in the final frame, but this shot was as good as any. Derrick Jones Jr. and Daniel Gafford did a good job of corralling Edwards into taking a long two-point shot as the shot clock was expiring, but big-time players make big-time plays and he sank it to give him a game-high 29 points.

Luka Doncic hit a three while being fouled in the next sequence but missed the and-one, then Naz Reid pushed the lead to four in the final seconds with a layup on the other end and Minnesota would go on to win 105-100, pushing the series back to Minnesota for Game 5.

Doncic and Irving struggled in this game, combining for 44 points while shooting 13/39 from the floor (10 points of Doncic's came from the free-throw line). Despite their struggles, Dallas had a chance to win and they'll need to be better in Game 5.

Jaden Hardy gave the Mavericks great minutes, showing fearlessness on his way to 13 points. I'd also like to give love to this insane Derrick Jones Jr. alley-oop finish that I just couldn't squeeze into the three game-changing plays.

Luka Doncic lobs it up to Derrick Jones Jr. for the SLAM ✈️

pic.twitter.com/7oK6aEZDlE

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 29, 2024

Towns finished with 25 points while shooting 9/13 from the floor and 4/5 from 3, easily his best game this series. He had really struggled in the first three games having made 4 of his last 32 threes dating back to the Denver series. Combined with Edwards' 29 points and Minnesota's two stars were better than Dallas', it's as simple as that.

It'd be huge if Dallas could get Dereck Lively II back for Game 5, as was reported before this game. They need him for his interior presence, especially on drives by Towns. They also can't allow Minnesota to get back into the series; for Dallas to be confident moving forward, they must close out the series on Thursday.

Game 5 will be Thursday in Minnesota at 7:30 p.m. CST.

READ MORE: Rajon Rondo Reveals Why His Tenure With The Dallas Mavericks Turned Sour

Stick with MavericksGameday for more coverage of the Dallas Mavericks throughout the NBA Playoffs 

Follow Austin Veazey on Twitter