Ayo Dosunmu scores career-high 43 off bench, Timberwolves beat Nuggets 112-96 to take 3-1 lead

Ayo Dosunmu delivered a historic playoff performance Friday night, coming off the bench to score a career-high 43 points and lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 112-96 win over the Denver Nuggets in Game 4 of their Western Conference first-round series. The victory at Target Center in Minneapolis gave Minnesota a 3-1 series lead.

Dosunmu was dominant from every level of the floor. He shot 13 of 17 from the field, made all five of his 3-point attempts and went 12 for 12 at the free-throw line, according to CBS Sports’ box score. He also added four rebounds and one assist in about 42 minutes. The 43 points were the highest total of his NBA career.

The outburst carried rare historical weight. According to StatMuse, Dosunmu is the first player to score at least 40 points off the bench in an NBA playoff game since Stephen Curry did it on May 9, 2016. StatMuse’s historical playoff query lists Dosunmu’s game as just the fourth recorded 40-point postseason performance by a reserve, underscoring how unusual a night it was even by playoff standards.

It also continued a sudden scoring surge that has changed the shape of the series. Dosunmu scored 25 points off the bench in Minnesota’s Game 3 win, while also handing out nine assists. Across Games 3 and 4, he has totaled 68 points, giving the Timberwolves a massive lift from a reserve role at a critical point in the opening round.

That production is especially notable given how recently he arrived. Dosunmu is in his first season with Minnesota after the Timberwolves acquired him from the Chicago Bulls at the February 2026 trade deadline. The move was intended to bolster the backcourt and add scoring depth; in the span of two games, Dosunmu has delivered exactly that, and at a level few bench players in playoff history have reached.

The win, however, also came with significant injury news. Donte DiVincenzo suffered a non-contact injury to his right lower leg early in Game 4. Later Friday, multiple outlets, citing ESPN sources, reported that DiVincenzo tore his right Achilles and will miss the rest of the postseason. Anthony Edwards also exited with a knee injury and was ruled out for the remainder of the game, with further testing still pending, according to reports. Those developments could loom large for Minnesota, but on a night defined first by Dosunmu’s breakout, the Timberwolves moved within one win of advancing.