DALLAS — Pelted by criticism over his struggles in this Western Conference Finals series, Karl Anthony-Towns answered the critics with a clutch performance Tuesday night.
The 7-foot-2 forward drilled 4-of-5 threes to finish with 25 points as the Minnesota Timberwolves avoided a sweep by winning Game 4 of their Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Mavericks, 102-97, at the American Airlines Center.
“Being aggressive. Ain’t no time to have any doubts at this time, it’s Game 4, down 3-0. Ain’t no time to have any doubts,” he told reporters at his post-game press conference.
No team in the history of the NBA playoffs had ever come back to win a series after trailing 0-3. But with three more wins, the Wolves could become the first of 165 teams to conquer the odds.
It took a complete team effort for Minnesota to rob the Mavs of the chance to sweep and book a best-of-7 NBA Finals showdown with the Boston Celtics, who swept the Indiana Pacers in the East Finals.
Anthony Edwards sizzled with 29 points and 10 rebounds. Michael Conley finished with 14 and 7 assists while Jayden McDaniels drilled 10 points. Naz Reid provided the usual spark off the bench, this time with 6 points and 5 rebounds.
“He was super confident. He wasn’t worried about any shots previous to the shots that he hit tonight. He played exceptionally well,” Edwards said of his much-maligned sidekick.
Game 5 is Thursday night (Friday AM in Manila).
Luka Doncic led the Mavericks home stand with a triple double — 28 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists — but he missed 14 of his 21 field goal attempts.
PJ Washinngton struggled similarly, just 3-of-13 shooting including 2-for-9 from beyond the arc. The former Wizard finished with 10 points and the Mavericks hit jonly 42.9 percent (34-of-81).
