Anthony Edwards’ inspiring positivity and admirable confidence – even in the face of overwhelming odds, helped the Minnesota Timberwolves earn at least one victory in the Western Conference finals.
Edwards’ attitude even robbed off on Timberwolves All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns who struggled offensively in the first three games of the series but delivered the fourth game.
Edwards, Towns and the Timberwolves avoided a sweep against the Dalass Mavericks with 105-100 win in Game 4 on Tuesday night.
Edwards had 29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, and Towns had 25 points.
The Timberwolves are 3-0 in elimination games in the 2024 playoffs.
“We’ve been resilient team all year,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. “We never lost three in a row until we got to to the playoffs, and we never lost four in a row. Guys respond. It’s a fun team to coach because they believe that they can always win no matter what.”
Games 5 is Thursday in Minneapolis, where the Mavericks took the first two games of the series. If Minnesota can make it a 3-2 series, it puts pressure on Dallas to close out the series at home in Game 6 because it doesn’t want to play a Game 7 on the road.
Getting there is a challenge. No team has come back from 3-0 deficit to win a series in the NBA playoffs, and just four of those teams down 3-0 have forced a Game 7.
That won’t alter Edwards’ mindset. “What am I supposed to say?,” Edwards said. “I’m supposed to say we’re going to lose game five? No, I’m not going to never say that.”
