Anthony Edwards rallies Wolves, dedicates game to late mother - ESPN

MINNEAPOLIS — Anthony Edwards scored a game-high 36 points to temporarily rescue a Minnesota Timberwolves season that was teetering and, afterward, gave a nod to his late mother for the performance.

«Today is Mother's Day,» Edwards said, redirecting the first news conference question. «I just wanted to win for my Mom. It was that simple.»

Edwards' mother, Yvette Edwards, died of cancer in 2015 and his grandmother, Shirley Edwards, died of cancer eight months later. Edwards has said that he wears the No. 5 because they both passed away on the fifth of the month and had portraits of both next to him the night the Timberwolves selected him first overall in 2020.

«For sure,» Edwards said when asked if he was thinking about his mother on Sunday. «I couldn't lose this game for her.»

Edwards didn't. The Timberwolves beat the San Antonio Spurs 114-109 on Sunday night, taking advantage of a Victor Wembanyama ejection to tie this second round series up at 2-2.

Early in the second quarter, while securing a physical rebound in traffic, Wembanyama nailed Timberwolves center Naz Reid with a swinging right elbow to the chin, sending Reid to the floor and officials to the monitor to review the infraction.

Lead referee Zach Zarba deemed it a Flagrant penalty two, triggering an automatic ejection and cracking open the door for the Timberwolves in a series San Antonio had previously controlled.

But the younger Spurs didn't fade without their star. Rookie Dylan Harper had 24 points off the bench, second-year guard Stephon Castle provided 20 and De'Aaron Fox hit a few second half jumpers to bump the Spurs lead as high as eight early in the fourth quarter.

«Honestly, I think it was kind of harder [without Wembanyama],» Edwards said. «Of