How concerned should the Dallas Mavericks be after Game 4 loss to Minnesota?

The Mavericks’ coronation as Western Conference champions will have to wait another day after Dallas was defeated by Minnesota 105-100 in Game 4 on Tuesday night.

Like the three previous games, this was a tightly contested battle that came down to the final quarter. Unlike in the previous three games, the Timberwolves were actually able to run a coherent offense in the final period with Karl Anthony Towns knocking down a number of clutch 3-pointers to lift Minnesota and avoid a sweep.

“This one hurts. We were expecting to be happy at the end of the game,” Daniel Gafford said. “Now we’re [angry].”

It was always going to be tough to sweep the Timberwolves, this was a team that was able to win a sweep Kevin Durant and the Phoenix and to Oklahoma City held him to 12 pointsSuns in the previous rounds.

However, it’s fair to wonder if Game 4 was merely an aberration, a game where the ball finally bounced Minnesota’s way or were there some troubling signs Dallas must correct before Game 5?

For one, the absence of rookie center Dereck Lively II had a severe impact on Dallas’ defense. The Timberwolves shot better than 52% as a team and no player thrived without the athletic big’s presence in the lane more than Anthony Edwards.

Edwards had his best game of the series with 29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Edwards repeatedly attacked the middle of the floor and thrived in the mid-range. When Lively was available he was a valuable defender that had the length to bother Edwards at the rim and he also showed the lateral quickness to stay with Edwards on the perimeter on switches.

Without him, Dallas’ elite defense didn’t have the final piece and Towns was another who finally broke out without Lively’s presence. Yes, Towns hit three 3s, but he also made six more field goals in or near the paint while scoring a series-high 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting.

Lively suffered a neck strain in the Mavericks’ Game 3 victory and its unclear if or when he’ll be back this series. If he’s not back for Game 5, then the Mavericks could be in a precarious situation on the road against a desperate team that has found some sort of momentum.

“Dereck has been great, he’s been ready to come out and play night in and night out,” Gafford said. “He’s been picking up the slack for me of course, the last couple of games I haven’t been ready to play I feel like. I’ve been letting the team down in a lot of areas, he really helps me motivate myself. We just have to have that next man up mentality and withstand that punch they’re trying to throw.”

Gafford may be being hard on himself, but there’s no question there’s a lack of rim protection without Lively in the lineup.

The Timberwolves are also hopeful they found a recipe to slow down Dallas superstar guards Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Edwards started the game on Doncic while the 6-foot-9 Jaden McDaniels switched onto Kyrie Irving.

Doncic had early success against his matchup as he scored eight of the Mavericks’ first 10 points, but as the game progressed Minnesota turned to forward Kyle Anderson to check Doncic. Nicknamed ‘Slo Mo’ for his pace on the court, the 6-foot-8 Anderson actually did a more than solid job on Doncic.

Maybe it’s because both players play at much slower paces than their peers or maybe it’s because Anderson has the requisite size to deal with how physical Doncic can be one gets into the lane. Doncic put up a triple double with 28 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists, but he shot just 7-of-21 from the field and missed a crucial free throw that would’ve made it a two point game with 13 seconds remaining.

After the game Doncic said the brunt of the responsibility lies with him.

“That game is on me,” Doncic said. “I just didn’t give enough energy, we’ve got to do better. They won one game, so we’ve just gotta focus on the next.”

After dazzling with 33 points in the epic Game 3 win, Irving had one of his toughest games of the playoffs as he missed 12 of 18 shots and turned the ball over four times.

Irving’s insanely difficult shotmaking has been crucial to Dallas’s success in the fourth quarter, but the breathtaking floaters and stepback 3-pointers weren’t falling Tuesday night.

While it would be easy to write it off as a tough shooting night, we have to remember that Irving is coming off a series during which Oklahoma City held him to 12 points or less three times. Did Minnesota find a similar strategy to the one the Thunder used?

Irving acknowledged there was disappointment, especially in his own performance.

“I started off the game with a few turnovers and If I’m setting an example like that other guys are going to follow suit,” Irving said. “That’s on me, I have to start off the game a lot better.”

Ultimately history is still on the side of the Mavericks. Teams that have taken a 3-0 lead are 155-0 in the playoffs, though the Boston Celtics nearly became the first team to pull off a 0-3 comeback just last season.

Eventually some NBA team will make history. The Mavericks must be careful they’re not on the wrong side of it.