As they navigated a pivotal stretch on Sunday night at Target Center, the Timberwolves actually showed the heart of a champion. Though they trailed the Denver Nuggets by as many as 16 points in the early stages of Game 4, they never gave up.

They chipped away and chipped away, and eventually, cut the deficit to single digits on a rhythm three-pointer by Anthony Edwards.

Then? Disaster.

Stunningly, in the span of roughly 20 seconds before halftime, the Timberwolves let all their hard work fall by the wayside.

It started when Nikola Jokic caught them sleeping, finding Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for an open three-pointer, which stretched the lead back to double digits. Instead of holding for what would’ve been the final possession, Edwards got too casual with the ball, turning it over and leading to a fastbreak dunk by Michael Porter Jr. To make matters even worse, Jamal Murray intercepted an errant pass in the waning seconds and nailed a 55-foot backbreaker at the buzzer.

The stretch was immaturity personified from the Timberwolves and perhaps the biggest reason they suffered a 115-107 loss to the Nuggets. You couldn’t help but watch the second half without thinking about all those points the Timberwolves spotted the Nuggets at the end of the first half.

Never mind that Edwards did everything he could, putting up 44 points on 16 of 25 shooting from the floor. Not even the Ant Man, who has looked the part of a legitimate superhero on the court at times in the playoffs, could save the Timberwolves from themselves.

The series is now tied 2-2 heading to Denver.

Truthfully, the whole game would’ve played out differently if the Timberwolves could have closed out the first half without imploding. They likely would’ve been well in striking distance throughout the second half given the way Edwards was dominating anybody in front of him. That wasn’t the case, however, because of an inexcusable lapse of judgement that led to an uphill climb the rest of the game.

Maybe the worst part of that collapse before halftime was the fact the Timberwolves made the fan base believe that they had outgrown that lesser version of themselves.

That was no longer the case as the Timberwolves looked the part of a legitimate contender as recent as last week, starting the playoffs a perfect 6-0, sweeping the Phoenix Suns in convincing fashion, and putting the defending champion Nuggets on notice with a blowout win.

That’s why the 20 seconds before halftime was so painful to stomach. It seemed as if Timberwolves had advanced to the next level in their pursuit of an NBA champion.

Now there’s at least a thought that it might have all been a mirage and the Timberwolves might be the same team they have always been. You know? The immature bunch that TNT analyst Charles Barkley loved to clown on national television for being the opposite of smart.

Related Articles

Denver convincingly takes down Minnesota again to even the series

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch wasn’t disappointed in lack of Jamal Murray suspension

Charley Walters: Bill Musselman would love Wolves’ tenacious defense

Anthony Edwards takes blame for Timberwolves Game 3 clunker, vows to be ready for Game 4

How the jobs he didn’t get led Chris Finch to the Timberwolves

Minnesota came back home with a 2-0 series lead and all the momentum.

The conversation surrounding the Western Conference semifinals was not if the Timberwolves would knock out the defending-champion Nuggets, but when.

Many believed the series wouldn’t make it back to Denver for a Game 5.

Not only is it going back, but it’s returning to the Mile High City in a 2-2 deadlock after the Nuggets won both games in Minnesota in convincing fashion.

Denver won Game 4 115-107 on Sunday. Game 5 is on Tuesday in Denver at 9:30 p.m.

Minnesota heads back to Denver in the same position the Nuggets were two games ago — staggering, with seemingly no answers.

Nikola Jokic has deciphered what Minnesota wants to do to him defensively. He finished Game 4 with 35 points, seven assists and seven rebounds. He controlled every facet of the game.

Anthony Edwards largely matched the presumptive MVP’s production, finishing with 44 points, but Minnesota had little else offensively.

Karl-Anthony Towns delivered his worst performance of the playoffs, finishing with 13 points on 5 for 18 shooting while committing a number of head-scratching plays.

But Towns didn’t commit the biggest head scratcher of all. That came at the end of the first half Sunday. The Wolves were outplayed over the first two quarters, but had trimmed the deficit to seven points in the final minute of the second.

Denver then scored, and Minnesota committed consecutive turnovers in the final 20 seconds. The last of which was an ill-advised, half-court pass attempt from Nickeil Alexander-Walker that was picked off by Jamal Murray with 1.6 seconds left.

Murray then wiggled around Jaden McDaniels and fired off a half-court heave that found the bottom of the net. Minnesota was outscored 8-0 in the final 20 seconds of the frame to trail by 15 at the break.

It never seriously threatened Denver’s advantage from there. Every mini-run featured a prompt response from the Nuggets, who have regained home-court advantage in what’s now a best-of-three series.

The Timberwolves were largely dominant at home all season. They squeezed the life out of Phoenix in Games 1 and 2 of the playoffs in Round 1. The Target Center crowd rocked at the outset of each contest on Friday and Sunday.

But the noise never bothered the Nuggets, nor did the Wolves. Minnesota’s suffocating defense has seemingly been alleviated by a couple of key Denver adjustments. The Nuggets raised their level of physicality to match Minnesota’s, which then turned the game into an execution contest.

Denver is difficult to beat in that arena.

Minnesota will now head back to the drawing board in search of new answers, because the previous ones are no longer applicable.

There was ample national discussion between Games 2 and 3 of the Western Conference semifinals about whether Denver guard Jamal Murray should be suspended for tossing a heating pad onto the floor in the middle of play, seemingly out of frustration with the officiating.

The Nuggets guard, of course, was allowed to play. His punishment was a $100,000 fine. And Murray used his availability to Denver’s maximum advantage in Game 3 on Friday, powering the Nuggets to their first win of the series behind his sensational play.

Not among the incensed at Murray’s lack of suspension was Timberwolves coach Chris Finch. Finch called Murray’s actions “inexcusable” and “dangerous” immediately after Game 2, but noted he never thought the NBA would suspend the guard.

“I thought they would throw a heavy fine. There hasn’t really been much precedent for suspending people, certainly in the playoffs, unless it’s a repeat offense,” Finch said. “Whether it is or it isn’t a suspendable thing doesn’t matter now. To me, I’m not saying it was the right thing, I just never expected the league to suspend him, so I wasn’t disappointed with the decision.”

Alexander-Walker talks tech

Nickeil Alexander-Walker lost his cool in a way he rarely does in the fourth quarter of Game 3. The guard went to the deck after bumping shoulders with Denver’s Nikola Jokic off a screen. After he returned to his feet, Alexander-Walker immediately got into the face of official Tony Brothers and received a technical foul.

Alexander-Walker then went over to the bench and punched a chair before briefly heading back to the locker room.

“I was more just upset because I’m fighting my (butt) off. I’m not one that’s going to flop and fake. For me, I was just trying to fight through screens. I felt like because I’m into my guy, last minute he’s trying to slide over to get a clean hit. I feel like my initial routes are to avoid the screen,” Alexander-Walker said. “So, every time I keep getting clipped trying to get around, I had hurt my shoulder a few possessions before that. I tried to fight it off. Then again it happened. I’m not trying to get injured. So, now at a certain point, I know Jokic is by no means a dangerous player. I’m just trying to talk to the refs, like can you please look out for it. I just got heated in the moment, getting hurt, trying to play hard. Should’ve had a better conversation.”

Fans rewarded

Wolves fans Jesse George and JC Stroebel have been hammering out “Naz Reid” tattoos for $20 — a promotion Stroebel started via social media — all week at Beloved Studios in Roseville.

A reward came Sunday in the form of courtside tickets that the team set up for the duo at Target Center.

The two were shown on the video board on Sunday during a first-quarter timeout.

TORONTO >> Was it his best start ever?

Rocco Baldelli thinks it might have been for Bailey Ober. The 6-foot-9 right-hander isn’t so sure — he recalls another outing a couple years ago in which he also struck out 10 batters and pitched into the eighth inning.

The Blue Jays? Well, they probably think so.

Ober threw 6 1/3 innings on Sunday, allowing just one hit in the Twins’ 5-1 win over Toronto. He walked none. Just one of the 20 batters he faced — Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who singled in the fourth inning — reached base in a nearly unhittable outing for Ober.

After the Blue Jays made Ober work in the first inning — he threw 20 pitches and each at-bat lasted at least six pitches — he said he shifted his mindset.

“It was just, ‘Get ahead early.’ I feel like once I was able to do that, I was able to get in a groove and kind of be in control of the game,” Ober said. “Just execute some pitches early and put guys away late.”

Ober got nine swing-and-misses on his four-seam fastball in the start, using that pitch to pick up most of his early strikeouts.

“Today, I felt like they weren’t as on time as other teams have been this season. So, I was able to lean on that a little bit more, really just kind of execute that at the top of the zone late in counts where maybe they were sitting offspeed,” he said.

His outing ended after a 10-pitch at-bat from Daulton Varsho, one which Ober finished with a strikeout, the perfect way for him to punctuate one of his most dominant starts.

It was the first time he eclipsed the 100-pitch mark this season and the second time he had pitched into the seventh inning.

“He was just fantastic,” Baldelli said. “I told him, ‘I think that’s absolutely one of your best outings that I’ve ever seen,’ and he’s had a ton of great outings.”

Buxton progressing

Byron Buxton did not make the trip to Canada with his teammates — but the Twins did receive some good news from back home about the center fielder.

“He’s doing good,” Baldelli said. “He’s running, so it’s good news. He’s feeling better.”

Buxton is on the injured list with right knee inflammation — it’s the same knee that he’s twice had surgically repaired — and has been since May 3. At the time, the Twins were hoping Buxton’s stay on the injured list would be close to the 10-day minimum.

Briefly

The Twins will have Monday off before taking on the New York Yankees this week at Target Field. Chris Paddack, Pablo López and Joe Ryan are scheduled to make starts in that series. … Edouard Julien put on a show in his home country, collecting two hits in both Saturday and Sunday’s games. Julien, who hails from Quebec, grew up rooting for the Blue Jays.