Timberwolves even second‑round series with Game 4 win, force Game 5

The Timberwolves didn’t just avoid a 3-1 hole. They dragged this series back to even, 114-109 over the Spurs, and turned a shaky second round into a fresh best-of-three. That matters because Minnesota looked close to losing control of the matchup after getting blown out in Game 2 and then dropping Game 3 at home. Instead, Anthony Edwards closed like a star, the Wolves survived a bizarre game script, and now Game 5 heads back to San Antonio with the pressure reset. ### What actually swung Game 4? Edwards did. He finished with 36 points and poured in 16 in the fourth quarter, which is basically the whole story of the closing stretch. Minnesota needed shot-making late because this wasn’t some easy cruise after Wembanyama went out — the Spurs kept hanging around, and the Wolves still had to execute in the final minutes. Naz Reid and Ayo Dosunmu also gave Minnesota useful offense, but Edwards was the closer. (apnews.com) ### Why was Wembanyama’s ejection such a big deal? Because it should have tilted the game hard toward Minnesota right away. Wembanyama was tossed early in the second quarter after being assessed a flagrant-2 for elbowing Reid in the face. When the other team loses its best player that early, the normal expectation is a runaway. But San Antonio didn’t fold, which made Minnesota’s job stranger — less about solving Wembanyama and more about not wasting the opening. (apnews.com) ### So did Minnesota dominate after that? Not really. That’s the catch. The Wolves actually had to come from behind even after the ejection, which tells you this game was messier than the final score makes it look. San Antonio’s guards kept generating enough offense to make Minnesota uncomfortable, and the Timberwolves didn’t fully capitalize until Edwards took over late. A tied series sounds clean. (apnews.com) The path to it was not. ### Why does 2-2 feel so different from 3-1? Because 3-1 is survival math. At 2-2, both teams are just trying to win two of the next three. Minnesota goes from facing near-elimination territory to having a real shot to reclaim the series with one road win. San Antonio, meanwhile, loses the cushion it built with back-to-back wins in Games 2 and 3. The leverage didn’t disappear, but it got a lot thinner. (nytimes.com) ### What has this series looked like so far? Pretty volatile. Minnesota stole Game 1 in San Antonio, 104-102. Then the Spurs answered with a 133-95 blowout in Game 2 and a 115-108 win in Game 3. Game 4 snapped that Spurs push and restored balance. So this hasn’t been a slow, tactical grind where one team clearly has the upper hand every night — it’s swung hard from game to game. (espn.com) ### What matters most in Game 5? Whether Minnesota can carry its late-game offense onto the road, and whether San Antonio gets a normal Wembanyama game instead of the chaos of Sunday. That’s the real pivot now. The Spurs still have home court in a tied series, but the Wolves just reminded them that Edwards can be the best closer in the matchup. When a series gets reduced to three games, one hot fourth quarter can redraw the whole bracket. (espn.com) ### Bottom line? Minnesota didn’t solve everything Sunday. But it solved the urgent problem — don’t go down 3-1. Now the series is even, Edwards has the momentum, and Game 5 suddenly feels like the true hinge. (apnews.com)