Game 4 showed the frustrating promise of Timberwolves' Karl-Anthony Towns

Towns got a ton of criticism when he started the Western Conference Finals shooting 15-of-54 as Dallas won the first three games. Then he drew praise after Game 4’s 25-point effort where he shot 9-of-13 and 4-of-5 from three-point range. But part of the difference was simply that Towns’ shots went in.

What changed? First, the Timberwolves started using Kyle Anderson as a screener to get KAT open looks from deep.

Anderson even directed traffic while freeing up Towns on his next triple.

Dallas also didn’t have Dereck Lively II, out with a neck strain That left the Mavericks with less rim protection, and Towns took advantage, making five of his first six shots from within seven feet of the basket.

But almost all of Towns’ damage came in the second half, due to his recurring tendency toward bad fouls. He committed three charging fouls in the game, with the third one nearly a flagrant foul. That limited him to less than 30 minutes, which could have renewed the criticism if Anthony Edwards hadn’t closed the game.

Towns has shown he can come through in big games as recently as 10 days ago when he had 23 points in Minnesota’s comeback victory in a Game 7 in Denver. But just as the bad games don’t define his worth as a player, nor does one good shooting game make him suddenly clutch.

Minnesota’s All-Star big is never going to satisfy the Shaquille O’Neals of the world who want the seven-footer to be banging inside, even if he’s a career 40 percent three-point shooter. Nor is his tendency to foul — and to look incredulous afterward — going to win over casual fans.

But Towns is loyal to his city and team, crashes the boards when his shot isn’t falling, guarded Nikola Jokic well and stepped up in elimination games. The NBA is a make-or-miss league. Towns isn’t as great as he looks when he can’t miss, nor is he suddenly terrible when his shots rim out.

No matter what happens in the rest of this series, don’t expect the Timberwolves to part ways with KAT any time soon.