Edwards, Randle lead the way again as Timberwolves beat Warriors 117-110 for 3-1 playoff series lead

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Anthony Edwards let it fly from 30 feet just before the halftime buzzer and his 3-pointer provided some much-needed momentum that Minnesota took right into a commanding third quarter.

Edwards also spoke up to his team at halftime and Chris Finch credited that pep talk for setting the tone ahead of an impressive second half.

“At halftime, Coach came in and said we’re playing like we already won the series pretty much, I don’t really like that," Edwards said, adding, “I told them we’ve only got two wins."

Edwards scored 30 points, Julius Randle had 31 and the Timberwolves beat the Golden State Warriors 117-110 on Monday night for a 3-1 lead in their Western Conference playoff series.

Staying close at halftime was key.

“It was huge because it felt like one of those games where we were going to struggle to find a rhythm,” Finch said. “I thought we might be down eight, 10 at halftime with the way that we had played. Fortunately, I thought his shot made it pretty much an even game and if we came out with the type of purpose that we needed to I felt we were going to be OK.”

Now, it's back home to Minneapolis for the Wolves with a chance to clinch the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series in Game 5 on Wednesday night.

The Warriors will still be without Stephen Curry, who sat out his third game in a row and is scheduled to have his strained left hamstring re-evaluated that day.

“We’re not going to Superman this thing,” Draymond Green said. “If he’s in a place where he can play, I’m sure he will.”

Edwards made consecutive 3-pointers and scored 11 total points in a decisive 17-0 Minnesota run that put the Timberwolves ahead 85-68 late in the third. They led 97-77 going into the fourth and the Warriors couldn't catch up.

Edwards — coming off a 36-point performance in a Game 3 — hit that big shot that pulled Minnesota within 60-58 at the break. And the Wolves delivered in the second half again after also trailing by two points at halftime in a 102-97 victory in Game 3.

Jonathan Kuminga came off the bench to score 23 points and convert 11 of 12 free throws for the Warriors, following up his 30-point performance in Game 3 with another gem.

Jaden McDaniels added 10 points and 13 rebounds for Minnesota.

Buddy Hield went down briefly 4:17 before halftime after McDaniels grabbed at the guard's neck and pulled the back of his jersey. The play went to replay review as fans chanted “You can't do that!” but was deemed a common foul rather than a flagrant.

Golden State has now dropped three in a row since Curry hurt his leg early in Game 1 last Tuesday night.

The Warriors were slow getting their offense and 3-point shooting going in a 102-97 loss Saturday and it was much of the same this game.

Jimmy Butler and Green scored 14 points apiece and Hield 13.

Even without Curry, Finch's defensive game plan focused on keeping the Warriors from their dangerous 3-point flurries — and Golden State wound up 8 of 27 from deep.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) celebrates after scoring during the first half of Game 4 in the Western Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the Golden State Warriors, Monday, May 12, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)

Minnesota Timberwolves center Naz Reid (11) shoots against Golden State Warriors guard Gary Payton II (0) and forward Kevon Looney (5) during the first half of Game 4 in the Western Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs Monday, May 12, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)

Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler III (10) goes up to shoot against Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) during the first half of Game 4 in the Western Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs Monday, May 12, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, center, reacts from the bench during the first half of Game 4 in the Western Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Monday, May 12, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) shoots against Golden State Warriors forward Trayce Jackson-Davis (32) during the first half of Game 4 in the Western Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs Monday, May 12, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top Justice Department official suggested the Trump administration might have to ignore court orders as it prepared to deport Venezuelan migrants it accused of being gang members, a fired department lawyer alleged in a whistleblower complaint made public Tuesday.

The whistleblower's claims about Principal Assistant Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove come a day before Bove is set to face lawmakers Wednesday for his confirmation hearing to become a federal appeals court judge.

In a letter seeking a congressional and Justice Department watchdog investigation, the former government lawyer, Erez Reuveni, alleges he was pushed out and publicly disparaged after resisting efforts to defy judges and make arguments in court that were false or had no legal basis.

The most explosive allegation in the letter from Reuveni's lawyers centers around a Justice Department meeting in March after President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act over what he claimed was an invasion by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. Reuveni says Bove raised the possibility that a court might block the deportations before they could be carried out. Reuveni claims Bove used a profanity, saying the department would need to consider telling the courts "f— you," and “ignore any such order,” according to the filing.

"Mr. Reuveni was stunned by Bove’s statement because, to Mr. Reuveni’s knowledge, no one in DOJ leadership - in any Administration – had ever suggested the Department of Justice could blatantly ignore court orders, especially with" an expletive, the filing says.

Reuveni’s claims were first reported Tuesday by The New York Times.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche denied the allegations in a post on X Tuesday morning. Blanche said Reuveni's claims are “utterly false,” adding that he was at the meeting and “at no time did anyone suggest a court order should not be followed.”

“Planting a false hit piece the day before a confirmation hearing is something we have come to expect from the media, but it does not mean it should be tolerated,” Blanche wrote.

Reuveni had been promoted under the Trump administration to serve as acting deputy director of the Office of Immigration Litigation. He had worked for the Justice Department for nearly 15 years under both Republican and Democratic administrations.

Reuveni's firing came after he conceded in an April court hearing that a Salvadoran man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, should not have been deported to an El Salvador prison, and expressed frustration over a lack of information about the administration’s actions. After that hearing, Reuveni says he refused to sign onto an appeal brief in Abrego Garcia's case that included arguments that were “contrary to law, frivolous, and untrue.”

“The consequences of DOJ’s actions Mr. Reuveni reports have grave impacts not only for the safety of individuals removed from the country in violation of court orders, but also for the constitutional rights and protections of all persons — citizen and noncitizen alike — who are potential victims of flagrant deliberate disregard of due process and the rule of law by the agency charged with upholding it,” Reuveni's lawyers wrote.

Trump nominated Bove last month to fill a vacancy on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which hears cases from Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He was already expected to face tough questioning before the Senate Judiciary Committee given his role in some of the department’s most scrutinized actions since Trump’s return to the White House in January.

Sen. Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the committee, said Tuesday that the allegations from Reuveni are part of a “broader pattern by President Trump and his allies to undermine the Justice Department’s commitment to the rule of law.”

“I want to thank Mr. Reuveni for exercising his right to speak up and bring accountability to Mr. Bove," Durbin said in a statement. "And I implore my Senate Republican colleagues: do not turn a blind eye to the dire consequences of confirming Mr. Bove to a lifetime position as a circuit court judge.”

Democrats have raised alarm about several other actions by Bove, including his order to dismiss New York Mayor Eric Adams' corruption case that led to the resignation of a top New York prosecutor and other senior Justice Department officials. Bove also accused FBI officials of “insubordination” for refusing to hand over the names of agents who investigated the U.S. Capitol riot, and ordered the firings of a group of prosecutors involved in the Jan. 6 criminal cases.

FILE - The U.S. Department of Justice logo is seen on a podium before a press conference with Attorney General Pam Bondi, Tuesday, May 6, 2025, at the Justice Department in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, file)