The Minnesota Timberwolves found themselves in a familiar position entering Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals: facing elimination, looking to avoid losing a fourth straight game for the first time all season.
After Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns and the Wolves dropped their third straight game to the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday night, they began to face the potential of a grim reality. A 4-0 series loss would be crushing.
Kyrie Irving (who is 14-0 all-time in potential close-out games) and Luka Donu010diu0107 (who is 4-0 in his last four after starting his career 0-2) bringing out the brooms and ferociously sweeping the Wolves out of the playoffs would end their historic season in such a way that could make it difficult for some to remember all the memories, milestones, Ant quarter takeovers, Naz Reid games, Towns 3-pointers, Rudy Gobert defensive masterclasses, Mike Conley clutch shots, Nickeil Alexander-Walker defensive efforts, stars getting their nights ruined by Jaden McDaniels, Kyle Anderson slow-motion buckets, quintessential Jordan McLaughlin sequences and everything in between, until the dust settles.