The Minnesota Timberwolves are in the middle of two battles in the 2024 Western Conference finals. On one hand, they are dealing with the dangerous Dallas Mavericks, who lead the series three games to one. On the other hand, Minnesota is up against something no team in the history of the NBA has yet to successfully overcome — a 3-0 series deficit in the playoffs.
That being said, the Timberwolves took a step closer to becoming just the first team ever in the league to pull that off after Minnesota took Luka Doncic and the Mavs down Tuesday night in Dallas to the tune of a 105-100 in Game 4 of the series.
Confidence is growing among Timberwolves players. Minnesota power forward Jaden McDaniels even believed that his team could rattle off three wins in a row to complete a basketball miracle in the 2024 NBA Playoffs.
“We knew that after Game 1 we could win or in Game 2 we [should've won]. I'd say the only game that they really beat us was the last game [Game 3]. Like the rest of them were close and it was like our mistakes have let us lose,” McDaniels told Joe Schmit of KSTPSports following the Timberwolves' Game 4 victory.
“Yeah, we could probably run off three more now,” McDaniels added when asked by Schmit if finally winning a game and preventing a sweep at the hands of the Mavericks help Minnesota's morale.
Timberwolves are finally on the board
Minnesota's mission is far from over. It's one thing to avoid an embarrassing sweep, and it's another to complete a comeback from 3-0 down in a playoff matchup. Nevertheless, the Timberwolves showed promise in Game 4 that maybe, they could be that team to break the historic drought. In Game 4, Minnesota got a tremendous performance from star big man Karl-Anthony Towns.
After getting criticized left and right for his poor play from Games 1 to 3, Towns shined at last for Minnesota in Game 4, scoring 25 points on 9/13 shooting from the field. He went 4/5 on his attempts from behind the arc and added five rebounds and an assist. McDaniels had a decent game himself, as he scored 10 points on 4/8 shooting from the floor. He has 25 points on an efficient 10/16 shooting from the field in the last two games.
Anthony Edwards, meanwhile, led Minnesota's attack with a near-triple-double showing, posting 29 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists in 40 minutes of action.
A few breaks, particularly in the clutch, going in favor of the Timberwolves during the first three games of the series could have Minnesota enjoying the series lead the Mavericks are relishing at the moment. But McDaniels and the Timberwolves also know that there's no point in sulking over the what-ifs. All their focus should be on what's directly ahead of them, which is another opportunity to extend the series versus Dallas.
For the first time in the series, the Timberwolves managed to get it together in the fourth quarter on both ends of the floor. Doncic and Kyrie Irving appeared to have been defended well by Minnesota; Doncic went just 7/21 from the field for 28 points while Irving scored 16 points but was a horrible 6/18 from the floor. As a team, the Mavericks recorded just a 42.0 field goal percentage — their worst thus far in the series.
Minnesota will look to cut down further the Mavs' series lead on Thursday when the Timberwolves play what could be their final home game of the season.
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