Anthony Edwards’ infectious positive attitude and admirable confidence – even in the face of overwhelming adversity – helped the Minnesota Timberwolves to at least one win in the Western Conference finals.

Edwards’ attitude even rubbed off on Timberwolves All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns, who struggled offensively in the first three games of the series but delivered in the fourth game.

Edwards, Towns and the Timberwolves avoided a sweep of the Dallas Mavericks with a 105-100 win in Game 4 on Tuesday night.

Edwards had 29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, Towns had 25 points.

The Timberwolves have a 3-0 record in the 2024 playoffs.

“We’ve been a resilient team all year,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. “We never lost three games in a row until the playoffs and never lost four games in a row. The guys respond. It’s fun to coach this team because they believe they can always win, no matter what.”

Game 5 is Thursday in Minneapolis, where the Mavs have won the first two games of the series. If Minnesota makes it 3-2, Dallas will be under pressure to close out the series in Game 6 at home because they don’t want to play a Game 7 on the road.

Getting there is a challenge. No team has overcome a 3-0 deficit in the NBA playoffs and won a series, and only four of those teams that were down 3-0 have forced a Game 7.

That won’t change Edwards’ attitude. “What am I supposed to say?” Edwards said. “Am I supposed to say we’re going to lose the fifth game? No, I’m never going to say that.”

It was far from a perfect game for the Timberwolves, whose 15 turnovers led to 30 points for Dallas. But Towns had his best game of the series, despite committing a foul in the third quarter and picking up his fifth foul. He hit just 27.8% of his shots from the field and 13.6% of his 3-pointers entering the fourth, but he hit 9-of-13 and 4-of-5 in the win. Towns scored 20 points in the second half: 10 in the third quarter and 10 in the fourth.

“KAT is a great player,” Finch said. “His problems didn’t last forever. He came back into it even when he got in big foul trouble. We left him out. I was about to take him out but then I think he got fouled so we left him in anyway. We just let him keep going. He played smart, kept control, got really good rebounds for us and executed on defense. We’re really proud of him. He’s been a big part of every series up to that point and we knew we had to get him in this series and tonight was a big step towards that.”

The Timberwolves made 52.7% of their shots from the field and 45.8% of their three-point shots. When the shots fall, the players and team look much better.

The Timberwolves were able to hold on to their lead until the end of the fourth quarter, something they had failed to do in the first three series. A three-pointer from Towns extended Minnesota’s lead to 98-92 with 2:54 left in the fourth quarter, and Edwards hit a three-pointer with 39.7 seconds left to give the Timberwolves a 102-97 lead.

Minnesota, which had the best defense in the regular season, held the Mavs to 42% shooting from the field and 35% on 3-pointers. All-NBA guard Luka Doncic posted a triple-double (28 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists) for the Mavs, who were without injured All-Rookie center Dereck Lively II (sprained neck).

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBA Playoffs: Minnesota Timberwolves beat Dallas Mavericks in Game 4