MINNEAPOLIS -- Anthony Edwards scored a game-high 36 points to temporarily rescue a Minnesota Timberwolves season that was teetering and, afterward, gave a nod to his late mother for the performance.
"Today is Mother's Day," Edwards said, redirecting the first news conference question. "I just wanted to win for my Mom. It was that simple."
Edwards' mother, Yvette Edwards, died of cancer in 2015, and his grandmother, Shirley Edwards, died of cancer eight months later. Edwards has said that he wears the No. 5 because they both passed away on the fifth of the month, and he had portraits of them next to him the night the Timberwolves selected him first in the 2020 NBA draft.
"For sure," Edwards said when asked whether he was thinking about his mother Sunday. "I couldn't lose this game for her."
Edwards didn't. The Timberwolves beat the San Antonio Spurs 114-109 on Sunday night, taking advantage of a Victor Wembanyama ejection to tie this second-round series at 2-2.
Early in the second quarter, while securing a physical rebound in traffic, Wembanyama nailed Timberwolves center Naz Reid with a swinging right elbow to the chin, sending Reid to the floor and officials to the monitor to review the infraction.
Lead referee Zach Zarba deemed it a flagrant foul 2, triggering an automatic ejection and cracking open the door for the Timberwolves in a series San Antonio had previously controlled.
But the younger Spurs didn't fade without their star. Rookie Dylan Harper had 24 points off the bench, second-year guard Stephon Castle provided 20, and De'Aaron Fox hit a few second-half jumpers to bump the Spurs' lead as high as eight early in the fourth quarter.
"Honestly, I think it was kind of harder [without Wembanyama]," Edwards said. "Of course they are a really great team with him on the floor, but they play a lot slower when he's on the floor. It's just like when every team is missing their best player and everyone [else] plays free, more confident."
Minnesota coach Chris Finch said the Timberwolves' midgame lull was more about human nature, saying his team "let our mind slip" and "lost our way" offensively, giving the Spurs life.
But the Timberwolves eventually responded, winning the fourth quarter 34-25 to inject competitiveness back into this second round series, finding consistent success in the paint without Wembanyama lurking.
Wembanyama had 19 blocked shots the first three games of the series and spooked Minnesota into dozens of other misses or non-attempts because of his presence.
But down the stretch of Game 4, the Spurs either had the far less fearsome Luke Kornet on the floor or no center at all and Minnesota attacked the rim. Rudy Gobert had two and-1s in the closing minutes. Ayo Dosunmu had a huge layup. Naz Reid had a putback that essentially sealed it.
Edwards, though, was the fourth quarter star, playing all 12 minutes and scoring 16 of his 36 points. The final of Edwards' 13 makes came with 2:24 left on a long offensive rebound, drive back into the paint and finger roll over Kornet.
The Timberwolves, per ESPN research, took 38 shots off drives in Game 4, their second-most in any game under Finch. Thirty of the 38 came after Wembanyama was ejected.
"Everybody knows the rim is going to be a lot more open when he's not on the floor," Edwards said. "He's eight-feet tall, so, yeah, he gonna cover up the rim every time he's on the floor."
Fifteen days after badly hyperextending his left knee and suffering a bone bruise, Edwards played in his fourth consecutive game in the series, eclipsing 40 minutes for a second straight.
Game 5 is on Tuesday night in San Antonio.