Anthony Edwards is in no way afraid of LeBron James. Not in the slightest. He proved that much midway through Game 4 on Sunday afternoon at Target Center.

After igniting a run shortly before halftime to help the Timberwolves close the gap on the Los Angeles Lakers, Edwards made his presence felt when James tried to play some bully ball on the other end.

In that moment, Edwards stood up to James, literally and figuratively, shoving him a few times too many, which resulted in him getting called for a foul that was very much deserved. What message was he trying to send?

“Just letting him know that we here,” Edwards said. “You ain’t just going to push around.”

Fittingly, the Timberwolves embodied that mentality as they chased down the Lakers to earn a 116-113 win. They showed absolutely no fear in the final minutes with Edwards leading the charge.

“He just took over,” Chris Finch said. “He’s a special player and he had a special night.”

That might be putting it lightly.

It was an otherworldly performance by Edwards as he finished with 43 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists. He did everything required of him to lead the Timberwolves to a win, whether it was nailing stepback jumpers, making the right read out of the double team, and getting to the free throw line at will.

The performance from Edwards was a continuation in his growth as a player. He’s taken his game to the next level so far in the playoffs. Especially when the chips are on the table.

“He’s been real meticulous with what he’s doing late in the games,” Mike Conley said. “He’s taking his time, really sizing up the defense, and understanding where guys are going to be on the court.”

Though certainly got some help from Julius Randle, who finished with 25 points, Jaden McDaniels, who finished with 15 points, and Naz Reid, who finished with 12 points, Edwards was consistently the best player on the court.

As good as he was at various points throughout the game, however, Edwards saved his best for last when his teammates needed him most.

With the Timberwolves trailing by 10 points with 12 minutes to play, Edwards refused to let them lose. He went nuclear from beyond the arc for a brief stretch and finishing 16 points in the final frame alone.

On the other end, James looked every bit of 40 years old, running out of gas down the stretch after playing near the entire game. He failed to score a point in the final frame and spent most possessions camping in the corner trying to catch his breath.

“I felt like they was gassed,” Edwards said. “Just tried to keep my foot on the pedal.”

The juxtaposition of the performance from Edwards and the performance from James sure felt like a passing of the torch.

Though he isn’t necessarily the best player in the league — not with Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic still very much at the peak of their powers — Edwards is starting to come into his own as the next face of it.

“When it comes winning time the dude knows how to win,” Donte DiVincenzo said. “That’s flat out what it comes down to.”

That’s a perfect way to describe Edwards. Just like it was a perfect way to describe James once upon a time.

“I just try to take advantage of every opportunity because I’ve been dreaming of this all my life,” Edwards said. “Just trying to prove I belong and to all my haters and people that criticize me that I’m better than they think.”

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The Timberwolves took a massive body blow in the third quarter of Game 4 Sunday at Target Center.

The Lakers, trailing 2-1 in the series and with two days off before Wednesday’s Game 5, were going for a game they had to have.

Trailing by three at the break, Los Angeles finally opened the second half with its best lineup – Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Austin Reaves, Dorian Finney-Smith and Rui Hachimura – and rode it all the way to the finish line.

Twenty-four minutes, zero substitutions. It was a home-run swing, and the Lakers made good contact in the third quarter. They out-scored Minnesota by 13 in the frame to claim a 10-point lead going into the fourth and put themselves in good shape to even up the series heading back to Los Angeles.

Right where the Wolves wanted them. Just when you think you have the Wolves beat, that’s when you don’t. No one throws a better counterpunch than Minnesota.

Anthony Edwards delivered one hell of a haymaker on Sunday at Target Center.

Perhaps it was a knockout punch on the Lakers’ campaign.

Edwards scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to go with four rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot to bring Minnesota all the way back for a 116-113 victory over the Lakers.

The Wolves now lead the best-of-7 series 3-1, with Game 5 set for 9 p.m. Central on Wednesday in Los Angeles.

“There wasn’t any panic. It’s been a hallmark of this team in the second half of the season. There’s been no panic,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “We’ve been down a bunch, even in the first half of the season we were down a lot through not the greatest of play and then we’d come back.”

This, in fact, was Minnesota’s seventh win this season when trailing by double digits in the fourth quarter, which is tied for most in the NBA. They’ve done it against the best teams, too.

The Wolves were down by 24 to Oklahoma City in the fourth, they rallied from 16 down in the final five minutes against Houston.

The wolf is most dangerous when it’s backed into the corner. Particularly when the leader of the pack is so daring and fearless. Edwards drilled a couple triples right in the eyes of the Lakers at the beginning of the final frame to draw Minnesota back into the fight.

The guard finished with 43 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

By game’s end, Edwards was in attack mode, often driving to draw attention before hitting others. In the final four minutes, Naz Reid, Donte DiVincenzo and Jaden McDaniels all had key buckets.

McDaniels’ slam and the ensuing free throw after he was fouled with 40 seconds left put Minnesota up one. McDaniels then collected a steal on the ensuing possession and Edwards went to the line and buried a couple free throw with 11 seconds left to put Minnesota up three.

The Lakers generated a great look to tie the game at the horn, but Austin Reaves’ triple clanked off the iron, and Minnesota’s latest comeback bore valuable fruit.

Even on a day when Doncic scored 38 points, James had 27 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists, three blocks and three steals and Hachimura canned five triples.

“Super proud of the way we responded. They got a team over there that doesn’t quit. They got guys with championship experience and have been in many of those games before and found ways to win,” Wolves guard Mike Conley said. “For us to get guys chipping in, in different parts of that comeback – Naz him being subbed in (late) and doing what he did. Donte making big plays. Ant making the right reads. Julius as well. Jaden. Everybody came up there to get the right moments.”

Randle, who finished with 25 points and seven boards, said he was confident Minnesota could wear the Lakers down. That didn’t necessarily happen with bodies. Like Los Angeles’ five, Edwards also played the whole half, and McDaniels nearly did.

But they did so with relentless defensive pressure. Minnesota pressured the ball and was on top of its rotations over the final 12 minutes, as it held the Lakers to 28% shooting.

“The guys always have a belief they can come back,” Finch said. “We just had to figure out some things defensively. That was the biggest thing to solve at the quarter break. They were getting loose in the middle of the floor and using that as an opportunity to pick us apart from the 3-point line.”

The Wolves simply kept coming, and eventually proved to be too much for the Lakers.

“I think it’s just from us being here so many times, being in the playoffs, we gotta stay together and when we do stay together we can come back from big leads,” McDaniels said. “Like last year (in Game 7 in Denver). So, just a big lead is never enough to just stop playing, sit down and (not) compete anymore.”

If Minnesota has proven anything this year, it’s that it will not lay down. If you want to beat the Wolves, you’ll have to do so for 48 minutes.

The Lakers – LeBron, Luka and all – came up 12 short on Sunday.

“Says a lot about us and who we are,” Conley said. “Just happy to see this team find a way.”

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AVONDALE, La. — Andrew Novak and Ben Griffin shot a 1-under 71 in alternate-shot play Sunday to become first-time PGA Tour winners — by one stroke — at the Zurich Classic.

They finished at 28-under 260 at the Pete Dye-designed TPC Louisiana and Novak finally broke through after a pair of top-three finishes this month — the last a playoff loss to Justin Thomas a week ago at the RBC Heritage.

Play was delayed by weather for just over 90 minutes with Novak on Griffin on the eighth hole.

Masters champion Rory McIlroy and fellow Irishman Shane Lowry, the defending champions, were in contention through 12 holes, but fell to 12th — six shots behind — with three late bogeys.

Danish identical twins Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgaard narrowly missed out on a first PGA Tour win, finishing second after a 68.

Novak and Griffin began the PGA Tour’s only team event three shots ahead but were caught by Frankie Capan III, the North Oaks, Minn. native, and teammate Jake Knapp before pulling back ahead when Griffin made a birdie put from nearly 35 feet on the par-3 17th.

That gave the eventual winners a two-shot lead after Capan had pulled his tee shot on 17 into the water left of the green. Novak’s tee shot also went farther left than intended and he had his hand over his chest as the ball stopped near the water’s edge.

But the clutch putt by Griffin on 17 allowed his team to win with a par on 18.

McIlroy and Lowry were just three shots off the lead when they bogeyed the 384-yard, par-4 13th — with each mishitting a chip before McIlroy missed a par putt from just inside 11 feet.

Despite their late fade, they had a large, supportive gallery on 18. McIlroy acknowledged fans with several waves before Lowry made a crowd-pleasing birdie putt. A smiling McIlroy retrieved the ball from the hole and flipped it into the water.

The Hojgaard twins were within a stroke of the lead when Nicolai made a 42-foot birdie putt on the par-3 14th. On 16, Rasmus narrowly missed a 27-foot birdie putt to tie for the lead, the ball stopping on edge of the hole. But that was as close as they would get.

Isaiah Salinda and Kevin Velo, the PGA Tour rookies who led after each of the first two days, finished with a 71 and tied for eighth at 24 under. They set the tournament better-ball record Thursday with a 58.

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The federal government is pulling museum grants from cultural institutions nationwide, including many in Minnesota.

In April, the Institute of Museum and Library Services — the main federal funder of museums and libraries — told the Science Museum of Minnesota, the Walker Art Center, the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, and the Ramsey County Historical Society their grants would be cut.

The IMLS pulled $625,000 in grants from the Science Museum, $250,000 from the Walker, $248,929 from the Mille Lacs Band and $212,714 from the Ramsey County Historical Society.

“This is definitely unprecedented,” said Christopher Stevens, the Walker chief of advancement. “It’s pretty devastating, and it’s discouraging that the federal government, which makes a relatively tiny investment in the arts, is willing to cut that investment.”

According to Chad Roberts, director of the Ramsey County Historical Society, “The biggest thing is: It’s not really ever happened before where the federal government has made this kind of a promise to a museum with a grant agreement and then just decided not to do it.”

“It really shakes your confidence in any kind of funding promise that gets made,” he said.

The cuts are the result of President Donald Trump’s March 14 executive order “Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy.” The order called for the IMLS and other government entities to be “eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.”

The IMLS then put more than 80% of its staff on administrative leave and curtailed and terminated hundreds of grants across the country.

In total, the IMLS awarded $1,544,319 in 2024 museum grants to Minnesota institutions. However, it is unclear how much funding has been lost in Minnesota, as the cuts could also impact grants issued in previous years that were designated for multi-year projects. This also does not account for the cuts to grants issued to libraries statewide.

The IMLS rescinded a grant awarded to the Walker in late 2024 to help the Minneapolis museum “reduce barriers for visitors with disabilities by planning and implementing interpretive tools and programs for learners with disabilities.”

Stevens, who has been with the Walker for over three decades, said he’s never seen cuts like this.

“We’re deeply saddened that the federal government, which made a commitment to support that work and has contributed more than $3 million to the Walker over the decades, is now going back and canceling a contract and work we thought would benefit people that enjoy coming to art museums,” he said.

Fossil, climate, collaboration projects cut at Science Museum

The grant cuts will affect four projects and potentially 28 staff positions at the Science Museum in St. Paul. These include:

A data and community engagement project on climate action
Digitization of the museum’s Chiapas Maya Ethnographic Collection, which includes collaborating with Maya communities of Chiapas, Mexico
A professional development DEI collaboration with 20 smaller and underserved museums in the Midwest
The second phase of digitizing the Wannagan Creek fossil collection from North Dakota, including 8,000 fossils that date back 60 million years and document an ancient ecosystem

Alison Rempel Brown (Courtesy of the Science Museum of Minnesota)

“They said, upon further review, IMLS has determined that your grant is unfortunately no longer consistent with the agency’s priorities and no longer serves the interest of the United States and the IMLS program,” said Alison Rempel Brown, the president of the Science Museum. “I cannot guess what’s going through their heads.”

Brown said the cut to the Wannagan Creek fossil project is particularly surprising because it is the most focused on what has traditionally been considered “pure science.”

“We have a very world-class collection from that region,” she said. “That’s a critical collection to help us understand how climate changed in the past, and some lessons we can learn as the climate continues to change going forward. If it’s not digitized, scientists around the world don’t understand that we have this collection and how they can use it to continue their scientific work.”

The IMLS cuts are unusual, Brown said, because Congress created the agency in 1996 through bipartisan support.

“Congress realized how important museums and libraries are for creating community, helping provide support, not just in cities, but rural areas as well,” she said.

Local employees, vendors impacted

The Ramsey County Historical Society in St. Paul had received a 2024 IMLS grant for $212,714 to digitize 2.5 million county assessor field cards for residential properties from 1915-2007.

Director Chad Roberts said these digital records could then be used by historians, scholars and policymakers to study the connection between racial housing covenants, redlining and zoning, and could be a resource for individuals to research the history of their homes and neighborhoods.

“Well, we’ve got a $212,000 budget hole to fix now, so yeah, that’s going to have an impact,” he said. “Of course, we were upset. This is a project that’s got a total price tag of $450,000. Federal money was a good chunk of being able to get it done in the next three years, and that’s just not going to be possible.”

The grants are “reimbursal,” Roberts said, so the grantees spend the money and then request the funds. The Historical Society has already funded $15,000 worth of work on the project.

“That hasn’t been paid yet, and we’re not sure it’s going to be,” she said. “The communications coming out of the Institute of Museum and Library Services have not been consistent.”

Roberts said this will impact employees and contracted vendors.

“In our case, it’s a small business,” she said. The grant funded “a couple of jobs over a few years. That’s just us. It has that impact real close to home.”

Kris Jensen, a press representative with the Mille Lacs Band, confirmed that the IMLS cut its $248,929 grant, too.

Jensen said the grant supported the preservation and perpetuation of the language and cultural practices of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. This would include making recorded stories from elders and community members available to the public.

The Goldstein Museum of Design at the University of Minnesota received a 2024 IMLS grant for $249,918 to photograph 1,300 objects and create an online database. Talia Milavetz, a public relations strategist for the university, said they are currently unaware of any changes to the grant.

Hoping for a coalition response

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Christopher Stevens said the Walker Art Center will request an IMLS review of termination, which must be submitted by May 12.

Minnesota has joined 20 other states in a lawsuit against the Trump administration to stop cuts to the IMLS and other agencies.

“We’re hoping that some kind of a coalition of people will push back, but that will take a long time. In the short term, we won’t have the money to serve the public as we were planning to do,” Stevens said.

“In the big picture of things, why you would target libraries and art museums for funding seems puzzling and doesn’t seem to be solving any real problems.”