play Live Sign upShow navigation menuplay Live Click here to searchsearchSign upSport|BasketballTimberwolves win, tie playoff series after Spurs’ Wembanyama ejectedEdwards’s 36 points give Minnesota 114-109 win and tie the Western Conference semifinals 2-2 against San Antonio Spurs.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogleAdd Al Jazeera on GoogleinfoAnthony Edwards scored 36 points for the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 4 of their NBA playoff series semifinals against the San Antonio Spurs [Eric Gay/AP]By ReutersPublished On 11 May 202611 May 2026Anthony Edwards scored 16 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter, and the Minnesota Timberwolves took advantage of Victor Wembanyama’s ejection to post a 114-109 win over the San Antonio Spurs.
The Timberwolves’ win on Sunday night in Minneapolis tied the Western Conference second-round series at two games apiece.
This article will be opened in a new browser windowlist 2 of 4What next for Real Madrid after Barcelona’s La Liga and Clasico triumph?list 3 of 4US football a ‘different world’ compared to 1994 World Cup but flaws remainlist 4 of 4All to know about the FIFA World Cup squad announcements and player listsend of listNaz Reid contributed 15 points and nine rebounds off the bench for Minnesota. He also took an elbow from Wembanyama into his chin on the play in which the Spurs star was ejected in the second quarter.
Jaden McDaniels scored 14 points, Julius Randle scored 12 and Rudy Gobert had 11 points and 13 rebounds for the Timberwolves. Ayo Dosunmu added 10 points for Minnesota.
De’Aaron Fox and reserve Dylan Harper scored 24 points each, and Stephon Castle added 20 for the Spurs. Devin Vassell tallied 14 points for San Antonio. Wembanyama had four points, four rebounds and no blocks in 12-plus minutes.
“We never expected them just to go away,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “They won a game in the Portland series without Wembanyama, so they’re very good, very good team.”
The Spurs trailed by seven before Harper made two free throws with 29.1 seconds left and Julian Champagnie hit two with 20.6 seconds remaining to bring San Antonio within 112-109.
Dosunmu answered with two free throws with 9.8 seconds left as Minnesota closed it out.
“Just small-time plays,” Edwards told reporters when asked how the Timberwolves won Game 4. “Small-time plays win big-time games. That’s what we needed. Diving on the floor, offensive rebounds and it was a great sub by Finchie for putting in Ayo for that last minute and a half.”
Earlier, Wembanyama grabbed a rebound and was trying to protect the ball from two Timberwolves when he turned and unleashed a vicious right elbow into Reid’s chin and was called for a foul with 8:39 left in the first half.
The officiating crew studied views of the play before upgrading the foul to a flagrant 2, which is an automatic ejection. Crew chief Zach Zarba said, “There was wind-up, impact and follow-through above the neck of an opponent.”
“I’m glad he [Wembanyama] took matters into his own hands – not in terms of hitting Naz Reid, I want to be very clear about that,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “I’m glad Naz Reid is OK, and I didn’t want him to elbow him. But [Wembanyama’s] going to have to protect himself if no one else does it for him. And I think it’s disgusting.”
Minnesota led 60-56 at the break. Edwards scored 18 in the half while Castle led San Antonio with 14 first-half points.
Despite the loss of Wembanyama, the Spurs scored 20 of the first 28 points in the third quarter and led 76-68 after a basket by Vassell with 4:33 left in the period.
“I thought, offensively, we were really doing a lot of good things,” Finch said. “We lost our way a little bit and gave them life.”
San Antonio’s Keldon Johnson drove for a hoop with 21.9 seconds remaining for an 84-80 advantage entering the final stanza.
Fox buried a three-pointer to give San Antonio a 94-86 lead with 8:51 left in the contest before Edwards scored 12 points during the Timberwolves’ 14-5 run.
“We had a chance to win,” Johnson said. “We didn’t close it out the way we wanted to. … Minnesota made some plays and finished the game.”
Edwards started the burst with a jumper, and he soon scored five consecutive points on a short floater and a long straightaway three-pointer to cut the Minnesota deficit to three with 7:10 remaining. He later canned two free throws with 5:51 left to bring the Timberwolves within 97-95 before drilling a three-pointer 39 seconds later to give Minnesota a one-point edge.
Gobert later delivered a thunderous dunk to give the Timberwolves a 107-101 lead with 1:56 to play.
Minnesota shot 44.7 percent from the field, including 10 of 27 from three-point range, while the Spurs made 47.7 percent of their attempts and hit just six of 26 from behind the arc.
