Timberwolves win, tie Playoff Series after Spurs’ Wembanyama is released | Basketball

Edwards’ 36 points give Minnesota a 114-109 win and tie the Western Conference semifinals 2-2 against the San Antonio Spurs.

Anthony Edwards scored 16 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter and the Minnesota Timberwolves took advantage of Victor Wembanyama’s exit to win 114-109 over the San Antonio Spurs.

The Timberwolves’ victory Sunday night in Minneapolis tied the Western Conference’s second straight series at two games apiece.

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Naz Reid contributed 15 points and nine rebounds off the bench for Minnesota. He also took an elbow from Wembanyama to his chin during the game in which the Spurs star was sent off in the second half.

Jaden ⁠McDaniels scored 14 points, Julius Randle scored 12 and Rudy Gobert had 11 points and 13 rebounds for the Timberwolves. Ayo Dosunmu added 10 points for Minnesota.

De’Aaron Fox and reserve Dylan Harper scored 24 points each and Stephon Castle added 20 for the Spurs. Devin Vassell scored 14 points for San Antonio. Wembanyama had four points, four rebounds and no blocks in 12 plus minutes.

“We didn’t expect him to leave,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “They won a game in the Portland series without Wembanyama, so they’re a very, very good team.”

The Spurs trailed by seven before Harper made two free throws with 29.1 seconds left and Julian Champagnie hit two with 20.6 seconds left to bring San Antonio within 112-109.

Dosunmu answered with two free throws with 9.8 seconds left as Minnesota closed.

“It’s just the little plays,” Edwards told reporters when asked how the Timberwolves won Game 4. “Little plays win big games. That’s what we needed. Jumps down, offensive rebounds and that was a big part of Finchie putting Ayo up for the last minute and a half.”

Earlier, Wembanyama grabbed a rebound and was trying to protect the ball from two Timberwolves when he turned and elbowed Reid’s right elbow and was called for the win with 8:39 left in the first quarter.

The staff studied the concept of the play before upgrading the dirty to the standard 2, which is a self-explanatory release. Crew Chief Zach Zarba said, “It was a finish, impact and tracking above the enemy’s neck.”

“I’m glad he (Wembanyama) took it upon himself,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “Not about hitting Naz Reid, I want to be clear about that. I’m glad that Naz Reid is OK and I didn’t want him to go into debt. But (Mr Wemby) has to fend for himself if there’s no one to help him. And I think that’s disgusting.”

Minnesota led 60-56 at halftime. Edwards scored 18 in the half as Castle led San Antonio with 14 points in the first half.

Despite losing Wembanyama, the Spurs scored 20 of 28 points early in the third quarter and took a 76-68 lead after Vassell’s basket with 4:33 left in the period.

“I thought bitterly, we were doing—a lot of good,” Finch said. “We lost our way a little bit, and we gave them life.”

San Antonio’s Keldon Johnson drove in a layup with 21.9 seconds left for an 84-80 lead entering the final quarter.

Fox made a 3-pointer to give San Antonio a 94-86 lead with 8:51 left in the contest before Edwards scored 12 points in a 14-5 Timberwolves run.

“We had a chance to win,” Johnson said. “We didn’t close out the way we wanted to. … Minnesota made some plays and finished the game.”

Edwards started off with a jumper and soon scored five consecutive points on a short layup and a long 3-pointer to cut Minnesota’s deficit to three with 7:10 remaining. He later made two free throws with 5:51 left to bring the Timberwolves within 97-95 before drilling a 3-pointer 39 seconds later to give Minnesota a one-point lead.

Gobert later delivered a thunderous layup to give the Timberwolves a 107-101 lead with 1:56 to play.

Minnesota shot 44.7 percent from the field, including 10 of 27 from 3-point range, while the Spurs made 47.7 percent of their attempts and hit just 6 of 26 from behind the arc.

Game 5 is Tuesday in San Antonio.