![\"Ayo](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2273161511-e1777195060528.jpg\")
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Ayo Dosunmu #13 of the Minnesota Timberwolves celebrates the win against the Denver Nuggets with teammates Mike Conley #10 (L) and Naz Reid #11 after Game Four of the First Round of the 2026 NBA Western Conference Playoffs at Target Center on April 25, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. <\/p>\n
A new star was born on Saturday night as Ayo Dosunmu<\/a> almost singlehandedly beat the Denver Nuggets<\/a> to help the\u00a0Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a> seize a commanding 3-1 lead in the first round of the NBA playoffs.<\/p>\n After dropping 25 points off the bench in Game 3, Dosunmu followed up with a career-high 43 points in Saturday\u2019s Game 4, while taking on a starting role in the second half due to injuries to Donte DiVincenzo<\/a> and Anthony Edwards<\/a>.<\/p>\n Acquired by Minnesota at the trade deadline, Dosunmu has proven to be the ultimate X-factor, catching Denver\u2019s defense off guard with his elite shooting and ability to get to the rim with ease. To put things in perspective, he has shot 23-of-32 from the field<\/a> (71%) and 17-of-18 from the free throw line (94%) in his last two games.<\/p>\n NBA World Reacts to Ayo Dosunmu<\/p>\n Dosunmu\u2019s 43 points were the second-most by a player off the bench in NBA playoffs history and the most\u00a0since Fred Brown in 1976<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ayo Dosunmu in Game 4 vs Denver:<\/p>\n 43 PTS The second-most PTS off the bench in a game in playoff history. <\/p>\n Ayo Dosunmu just had the most points off the bench in a playoff game in over 50 years. <\/p>\n Here are some reactions from around the league:<\/p>\n Leading the charge was Sacramento Kings<\/a> star DeMar DeRozan<\/a>, who was pleased to see his former Bulls teammate shine under the brightest of lights.<\/p>\n NBA insider Marc Stein:<\/a> \u201cStarting to think Minnesota won the Ayo Dosunmu trade \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n NBA insider Brett Siegel:<\/a> \u201cAyo Dosunmu has been the best trade deadline addition any team has made in the last decade.\u201d<\/p>\n Timberwolves star Julius Randle<\/a> admitted he was not very familiar with Dosunmu\u2019s game when the 26-year-old guard was acquired from the Bulls<\/a> via trade.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t know he was that damn good,\u201d Randle said, via Michael Scotto.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI ain\u2019t gonna lie to you. When I was in the East and he was in Chicago, that were those DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine<\/a> teams, so I don\u2019t know if the opportunity was there as much, but damn, I\u2019m glad we got him.\u201d<\/p>\n Ayo Dosunmu Clinches Starting Role<\/p>\n Entering the second half of Saturday\u2019s game, the Nuggets had a golden opportunity to level the series, given the injuries to DiVincenzo and Edwards. However, Dosunmu had other plans, hitting big shot after big shot to stun Nikola Jokic<\/a> and Co.<\/p>\n Dosunmu has all but guaranteed himself a starting role for the Timberwolves, not just in Game 5 but for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch was all praise for the budding star.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a gamer,\u201d Finch said of Dosunmu, via Nadine Babu.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s really a gamer like he just has met the moment since he\u2019s gotten here, the beginning of the series, you can see him trying to feel his way through it. You know, obviously game three, his aggression just came out, and he just kept with it. Goes places, quick, unbelievable finisher, makes big shots, not afraid, you know. So just who\u2019s gonna ride him until he collapses, really.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tSai Mohan<\/a> covers the NBA for Heavy.com. Based in Portugal, Sai is a seasoned sports writer with nearly two decades of publishing experience, including bylines at Yardbarker, FanSided’s Hoops Habit, International Business Times, Hindustan Times and more. More about Sai Mohan<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Timberwolves\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Ayo Dosunmu #13 of the Minnesota Timberwolves celebrates the win against the Denver Nuggets with teammates Mike…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":718479,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3782],"tags":[7,307,152,3954,6,308],"class_list":{"0":"post-718478","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-timberwolves","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-minnesota","10":"tag-minnesota-timberwolves","11":"tag-minnesotatimberwolves","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-timberwolves"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116470489862657045","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=718478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718478\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/718479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=718478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=718478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=718478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n13-17 FG
\n5-5 3P
\n12-12 FT<\/p>\n