Karl-Anthony Towns, Timberwolves Grind Out Game 4 Win To Avoid Sw

DALLAS -- After Karl-Anthony Towns busted out of his shooting slump to score 25 points in the Minnesota Timberwolves' 105-100 Game 4 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday, Anthony Edwards had one more assist for the All-Star big man during their shared postgame news conference.

Intercepting a question during which Towns was asked to explain what changed -- coming off a disastrous Game 3 that caused his coach, Chris Finch, to admit it was "hard to watch" -- Edwards answered for Towns.

"Everything came together for him; he was super confident," Edwards said. "He played exceptionally well, and he came through big-time. He was the reason we won tonight."

Towns shot 9-for-13 from the field and 4-for-5 on 3-pointers, scoring 10 of his points in the fourth quarter to help the Wolves finally exorcise their late-game demons after folding down the stretch through their 0-3 start to the Western Conference finals.

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Finch, who benched Towns for nearly the last nine minutes of Game 2, trusted his big man to play for most of the fourth quarter Tuesday with five fouls -- subbing him in for Naz Reid with 9:25 remaining and letting Towns play most of the rest of the way, until he fouled out with 1:38 remaining.

Dallas guard Kyrie Irving suffered the first loss in a closeout situation of his career, dropping to 14-1 in such scenarios in large part because of Towns.

The Wolves hope to keep figuring out the Mavs to become the first team in league history to win four straight and capture a series after dropping the first three games. Game 5 is set for Thursday in Minneapolis.

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Gallery Credit: Curt St. John