Watch: Timberwolves roll the dice with Karl-Anthony Towns' foul trouble

With 7:35 to go in the third, Towns committed his second offensive charge of the game and his fourth foul. Finch trusted his big man and immediately got rewarded when Towns got fouled and converted a three-point play. After a bucket from Anthony Edwards, Towns drilled his first three-pointer of the game to give Minnesota a four-point lead.

The good vibes only lasted a little over a minute more. With 4:59 to go, Towns delivered an elbow to P.J. Washington's face and was whistled for his fifth foul of the game. Finch got a technical foul complaining about the call, but it could hardly have been a more obvious call.

The silver lining for Minnesota? They got to bring in Naz Reid, the Sixth Man of the Year.

They also got their team fired up, perhaps out of anger at the officials, or because the Towns-free lineup played a zone that confused the Mavericks. Despite Edwards picking up his own fourth foul, he stayed in to hit a jumper to give Minnesota a 78-73 lead going into the final quarter.

The fourth quarter might come down to foul trouble. The Timberwolves hope it comes down to Edwards instead.