Ayo Dosunmu came off the bench to score a career-high 43 points on 13-for-17 shooting, and the short-handed Minnesota Timberwolves pulled away for a 112-96 win over the Denver Nuggets in Game 4 of their Western Conference quarterfinals series on Saturday night in Minneapolis.
“Ayo was out of this world,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said.
The victory, which gave Minnesota a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, came at a cost to the Timberwolves, who lost two starters due to injury.
Anthony Edwards, a four-time All-Star and the team’s top scorer, left in the second quarter and did not return because of a left knee injury. Edwards leaped to try to block a shot and landed awkwardly on his left leg, and he quickly dropped to the court and clutched his knee.
Team officials helped Edwards to his feet and he placed his arms around their shoulders. He put little weight on his left leg as he hobbled toward the locker room.
Earlier in the first half, Timberwolves guard Donte DiVincenzo headed toward the locker room after he injured his right leg on a non-contact play. DiVincenzo planted his foot to pursue a loose ball and fell to the hardwood, and he grabbed the back of his right leg in pain.
Early reports indicated that DiVincenzo might have ruptured his Achilles tendon on the play.
Naz Reid added 17 points off the bench for Minnesota. Julius Randle finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, and Rudy Gobert grabbed a game-high-tying 15 rebounds to go along with four points.
“We’ve got a team of fighters,” Reid said.
Jamal Murray scored 30 points on 10-for-25 shooting to lead Denver. Nikola Jokic finished with 24 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists. However, he shot 8-for-22 from the field and missed all three of his 3-point attempts.
The series returns to Denver for Game 5 on Monday night.
Dosunmu took over in his teammates’ absence. He helped Minnesota outscore Denver 62-42 in the second half to take a commanding lead in the series.
The Nuggets led 76-74 late in the third quarter before Dosunmu helped Minnesota take charge. He made a pair of free throws as Minnesota finished the quarter on an 8-2 run to grab an 82-78 lead.
In the fourth quarter, Dosunmu continued to assert himself. He hit a driving layup and a pull-up bank shot to increase the Timberwolves’ lead to 95-82 with 7:53 to go.
Denver struggled to keep pace the rest of the way, and Jokic took exception to a layup by Jaden McDaniels with 2.1 seconds left. Jokic and Randle were ejected in the closing seconds after players from both teams shoved one another near the sidelines.
“I didn’t like what McDaniels did; the game was over,” Nuggets coach David Adelman. “That’s who he is. That’s what they want to do, that’s what they want to do.”
–Field Level Media
