Here are five thoughts following the Dallas Mavericks’ 105-100 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals.

Dallas’ failure to sweep the series forced Game 5 on Thursday in Minnesota, where they will attempt to earn the franchise’s third trip to the NBA Finals and a meeting with the Boston Celtics.

The Mavericks had Minnesota where they wanted them.

During the regular season, the Mavericks had the league’s third-highest net rating in tight games, making them one of the top basketball teams in clutch situations. Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic have repeatedly proven to be two of the league’s top clutch performers.

They won the first three games in the Western Conference finals, despite trailed in the fourth quarter. Dallas believed that if they could keep the game tight until the end, they would be able to win.

It did not function on Tuesday.

P.J. Washington, a crunchtime hero in the Mavericks’ second-round win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, hit a 3-pointer with 7:08 left in the fourth to level the game at 86-86, then scored on a driving layup 30 seconds later to give Dallas an 88-87 lead. However, the Timberwolves responded with a 13-4 run to grab a 100-92 lead with 1:38 remaining in the game.

The Mavericks cut Minnesota’s lead to 100-97 with 1:02 left on a Kyrie Irving floater, but Anthony Edwards answered with a pull-up jumper to extend Minnesota’s advantage to five with less than a minute left. Irving turned the ball over on the next play, forcing the Mavericks to foul Mike Conley, who converted one of two free throws with less than 20 seconds remaining to give Minnesota a six-point lead.

Doncic hit a 29-foot pull-up 3-pointer with 13 seconds left to trim Minnesota’s lead to 103-100, but following a Minnesota timeout, Naz Reid scored a layup to put the Timberwolves back ahead by five points.

Cold open.

The Mavericks scored only four of their first 18 shots in the first quarter, going scoreless for 4:31 between a Doncic stepback 3-pointer that tied the game at 10-10 with 7:21 left and a pair of Doncic free throws that made it 20-12 with 2:50 left.

They did not make another field goal until Jaden Hardy’s 3-pointer with 1:37 left in the quarter, and they shot only 6 for 21 (28.6%) during the period. The Mavericks trailed 27-20 after the first quarter, but outscored Minnesota 29-22 in the second to tie the game at halftime.

Doncic recorded 28 points, 15 rebounds, and 13 assists. Irving finished with 16 points after scoring 30 or more in the first two games of the series.

Timberwolves stars Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Rudy Gobert picked up their third fouls in a two-minute stretch in the second quarter, but eventually shined. Towns was penalised for a loose ball foul at 4:24 and sat out the rest of the session. Gobert replaced him and, two minutes later, fouled Doncic on a shot attempt, sending him back to the bench. Edwards fouled Doncic with 3:35 left in the second quarter, causing him to miss the rest of it.

Gobert and Edwards’ fouls resulted in four Doncic free throws, and their absences helped the Mavericks close the first half tied 49-49 with the Timberwolves. Towns received his fourth foul less than five minutes into the third quarter (resulting in a change of possession and a Kyrie Irving 3-pointer on the other), and his fifth with 4:59 remaining in the period.

He departed the game with five minutes remaining in the third quarter and 15 points scored, but played some of his greatest basketball with five fouls in the fourth. Towns made three 3-pointers in a three-minute stretch to give the Timberwolves a 98-92 lead before fouling out with 1:38 remaining. Edwards, who had four fouls in the fourth quarter, nailed a pull-up jumper with 40 seconds left to give the Timberwolves a 102-97 lead.

Towns did not score more than 16 points in the first three games of the series, but he concluded Game 4 with 25 points, 5 rebounds, and a plus-15 rating in 29 minutes. Edwards had a series-high 29 points and nearly a triple-double with 10 rebounds and 9 assists.

Jaden Hardy, bench weapon.

He scored seven points in the final three-and-a-half minutes of the third quarter, including a 3-pointer with 3:22 left, a driving dunk with 1:39 left, and a finger roll layup in the final seconds, before opening the fourth quarter with another long-range shot.

Hardy scored 7 points in Game 3 and 8 in Game 2, but had not reached double figures since Game 5 of the Mavericks’ first-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers. He has now played at least 10 minutes in three consecutive conference finals games.

The major problem

In the first three games, the Mavericks outplayed or matched the Timberwolves’ main strength — their height and paint dominance — but Minnesota eventually won the inside battle in Game 4.

Dallas, which was without standout rookie center Dereck Lively II (neck strain), lost the rebounding (40-38) and paint points (46-36) battle to the Timberwolves on Tuesday. Daniel Gafford went 6 for 6 from the floor and grabbed 8 rebounds, but backup centre Dwight Powell did not score or rebound in three first-half minutes.

Tuesday’s loss emphasized Lively’s impact. The 20-year-old had been a perfect 13 for 13 from the field in the series before he exited Game 3, and he averaged 10 rebounds per game in Game’s 1 and 2.