MINNEAPOLIS — Ayo Dosunmu scored a career-high 43 points, stepping up after leg injuries to Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo with the highest-scoring playoff performance by a reserve in 50 years, and the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Denver Nuggets 112-96 on Saturday night.
The Timberwolves took a 3-1 lead in the series in a game that ended with the ejections of Denver’s Nikola Jokic and Minnesota’s Julius Randle after Jokic became angry when Jaden McDaniels made a meaningless layup with 2.1 seconds remaining and confronted the Wolves’ swingman near his bench.
The story before that was Dosunmu, who had the best performance by a sub since Fred Brown scored 45 off the bench for Seattle in a 116-111 loss to Phoenix on April 15, 1976.
The Wolves have won the last three games and can end the series in Game 5 on Monday in Denver.
Dosunmu made 13 of 17 shots, including 5 of 5 from behind the arc, and all 12 of his free throw attempts, providing even more than the Wolves could have imagined when they acquired him from Chicago in February.
Naz Reid had 17 points and nine rebounds for Minnesota, while Randle added 15 points and nine boards.
Jamal Murray led Denver with 30 points. Jokic added 24 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists for the Nuggets, who were just 6 for 27 (22%) from beyond the arc.
The Nuggets led by seven in the third quarter before the Timberwolves used their defense to get back into the game. Bones Hyland and Dosunmu scored breakaway layups on consecutive possessions after Minnesota forced the Nuggets to turn it over near halfcourt.
Randle added a steal and fast-break dunk to put the Wolves up by four after three quarters.
Dosunmu had another steal and layup as part of a 9-0 run early in the fourth quarter that gave Minnesota a 95-82 lead.
The basket that pushed the lead into double digits was a 3-pointer by 38-year-old Mike Conley, who played 20 minutes while filling in for DiVincenzo and Edwards.
