Edwards, Towns keep Timberwolves alive as Mavs downed

Anthony Edwards scored 29 points and Karl-Anthony Towns produced a crucial late burst of long-range shooting as the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Dallas Mavericks 105-100 On Tuesday to keep their NBA Western Conference finals series alive. The Timberwolves, trailing 3-0 in the best-of-seven series heading into game four, held off a furious late rally to close out a battling victory at the Mavericks' home arena. Edwards led the Minnesota scoring but the decisive contribution came from Towns, who drained a trio of three-pointers to help the Timberwolves take a 98-92 lead with less than two minutes remaining.

After Towns put Minnesota six points clear, Edwards extended the cushion to 100-92 via a jump shot with 1min 47sec left on the clock to leave the visitors in control. But there was still time for Dallas to give the third seeds a nervous finale, closing to within three at 100-97 before Edwards' sublime pull-up jumper from 21 feet put the Timberwolves five points clear with 40 seconds left. The visitors held that advantage through to the buzzer and now have a slender lifeline to cling to as they head to game five back in Minneapolis on Thursday. Edwards said he had been determined to prevent Dallas from clinching a clean sweep.

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Dallas were left frustrated after losing despite another triple double from Luka Doncic, who finished with 28 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists. Doncic however had an off-night from long range, making just four-of-11 from three-point distance. As a team, Dallas went 14-from-40 outside the arc. Towns finished with 25 points, with Mike Conley adding 14 and Rudy Gobert 13.

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