The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night, 119-118, behind the best postseason performance of Karl-Anthony Towns’ career. As a result, Minnesota tied things up in the 2-7 matchup in the Western Conference at two games each with the series shifting back to Memphis next week.
After coming under some scrutiny for only attempting four shots as the Timberwolves failed to hold onto a big lead in Game 3, Towns came out with a chip on his shoulder. As a result, he joined Kevin Garnett as the only players in franchise history to hit the 30-point and 10-rebound benchmarks in a playoff game — Towns scored a team-high 33 points, including a 14-for-17 clip from the free throw line, with 14 rebounds.
This euro by KAT on ESPN #NBAPlayoffs presented by Google Pixel pic.twitter.com/WaB2LjBrNO
— NBA (@NBA) April 24, 2022
Dillon Brooks’ fadeaway.. or KAT’s?@memgrizz 101@Timberwolves 102
Under 7 to play on ESPN pic.twitter.com/pEqE89JVHx
— NBA (@NBA) April 24, 2022
Playoff career-high 30 for KAT!@Timberwolves 110@memgrizz 107
4:29 left on ESPN pic.twitter.com/Trs7cv99sT
— NBA (@NBA) April 24, 2022
Anthony Edwards also came up big for Minnesota. He left the game early with a non-contact knee injury, but came back and did not look like he missed a beat, scoring 24 points with four rebounds, four assists, and two steals. The point guard duo of Patrick Beverley and Jordan McLaughlin combined for 33 points and seven assists.
Ant goes left.
Wow.
MIL, MEM Game 4 live now on ESPN pic.twitter.com/PzUatRai1w
— NBA (@NBA) April 24, 2022
ANT EDWARDS DOUBLE-CLUTCH.#NBAPlayoffs presented by Google Pixel pic.twitter.com/KlGECw7Drp
— NBA (@NBA) April 24, 2022
Jordan McLaughlin heating up.. 9-0 @Timberwolves run!#NBAPlayoffs presented by Google Pixel on ESPN pic.twitter.com/ueNt7443VQ
— NBA (@NBA) April 24, 2022
“Anthony Edwards, not afraid of the moment!”
Timberwolves leading Game 4 on ESPN pic.twitter.com/jElLyWZD18
— NBA (@NBA) April 24, 2022
And now Ant with a wild drive and reverse of his own!@Timberwolves 90@memgrizz 83
Late 3Q on ESPN pic.twitter.com/mmjqNF0ANT
— NBA (@NBA) April 24, 2022
While Ja Morant did not have a good night by his standards — 11 points on 4-for-13 shooting with 15 assists and eight rebounds — Desmond Bane was a menace. The Grizzlies’ sharpshooting guard went for 34 points and connected on eight of his 12 attempts from deep, which ties his career-best scoring mark in a single game and set a personal best in made triples.
DESMOND BANE FEELING IT ON ESPN.
He’s got 6 threes… in the first half pic.twitter.com/xcfqK5qtqD
— NBA (@NBA) April 24, 2022
Dillon Brooks gave the team 24 points, while Brandon Clarke scored 15 on 7-for-9 shooting with five rebounds, four assists, a steal, and a block. Still, with the series now tied up at two games each, Memphis will need to get more out of their All-Star guard, as Morant is shooting 29 percent from the field over the last two games and has not hit the 20-point mark in either of them.
Game 5 will take place in Memphis on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.