LOS ANGELES: Anthony Edwards scored 29 points and Karl-Anthony Towns produced a crucial late burst of long-range shooting as the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Dallas Mavericks 105-100 On Tuesday (May 28) to keep their NBA Western Conference finals series alive.
The Timberwolves, trailing 3-0 in the best-of-seven series heading into game four, held off a furious late rally to close out a battling victory at the Mavericks' home arena.
Edwards led the Minnesota scoring but the decisive contribution came from Towns, who drained a trio of three-pointers to help the Timberwolves take a 98-92 lead with less than two minutes remaining.
"Game four, down 3-0, this ain't no time to have any doubts," Towns said of his flurry of scoring. "I just wanted to go out and be aggressive, shoot my shot and be confident with every shot I shoot.
"Defensively I wanted to be as disciplined as possible. And offensively - just don't lose any confidence and don't lose any aggression."
After Towns put Minnesota six points clear, Edwards extended the cushion to 100-92 via a jump shot with 1min 47sec left on the clock to leave the visitors in control.
But there was still time for Dallas to give the third seeds a nervous finale, closing to within three at 100-97 before Edwards' sublime pull-up jumper from 21 feet put the Timberwolves five points clear with 40 seconds left.
The visitors held that advantage through to the buzzer and now have a slender lifeline to cling to as they head to game five back in Minneapolis on Thursday.
Edwards said he had been determined to prevent Dallas clinching a clean sweep.
"I've never been swept in my career, even though I've been to the playoffs three times," Edwards told TNT television. "I took it personally.
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Anthony Edwards