The Minnesota Timberwolves were able to secure a 123-119 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night. An Evil Newcomer to Anthony Edwards and a Superstar Performance Game by Karl Anthony-Towns, combined for a total of 83 points.
Devin Booker, who earned the player of the game for the Suns, showed that even if he is hot off the field, he will still be able to trust his teammates with wide openings, but the offense eventually declined to find happiness.
The turnover was definitely the talk of the Valley with the Suns to hand over a total of 22 for the game. The goal on the Suns back is big, as any team in the league will take on the challenge of tackling a Western Conference beast.
First half
The Suns started the game aggressively on defense and offense by forcing four times within the first three minutes of the game and throwing a few dunes into the hands of Deandre Ayton and Booker. Booker was back to ‘first quarter book’, getting his places on the floor and forcing beautiful looks and finishing the first quarter with 16 points, including the quarter making 3 points!
The T-Wolves returned the favor by forcing turnover and using faulty passes. Ayton went to the bench early with two errors giving Towns more room to wander on the floor. Mikal Bridges moved on to guarding Townships, but the size advantage was too great to handle Bridges.
Edwards now touching the ball for the T-Wolves, every possession is the offense for his team along with Towns. Edwards was an aggressive fan of the basket and started the game with seven shot attempts and seven points.
The turnover for the Suns reached ten by the end of the first quarter!
The T-Wolves were able to put a lid on their earlier spill of turnover by playing the iso ball between Towns and Edwards.
Edwards started the second quarter as almost unreadable. The Zion Williamson effect began with Edwards fully controlling the offense. Two consecutive tries and a dunk lead to an early second quarter endurance for the Suns.
The Suns had to fight every fight against Edwards from three. Mikal and Ayton penetrated the game halfway through the second quarter to lift the Suns offense with a 3-point made by Mikal and a few easy shots under the edge of Ayton (one leading to free throws).
Turnover continued to pile up for the Suns, who finished the first half with 14 of them but submitted 58-53. Both Towns and Edwards shot at 6-12 jointly from three who did their best to keep things close.
Suns 58, CAT / Edwards Duo 41 in the half.
The rest of the Timberwolves scored 12 points.
– Suns JAM Session Podcast (@SunsJAM) 19 March 2021
Ayton was able to put together a solid second half with 8 PTS and 5 REBs, and Booker led the Suns by 21 points.
Second half
Booker with two finishes dipped the start of the third quarter by shining the light on Suns’ lead. Booker was able to find the open shooters with cover sagging in the middle of the paint, and was able to spread the wealth on the offensive side.
Bridges in the paint are always good. The three-point shots still fell for him and the open lanes were there for 12-foot shooters. Because Booker and Bridges realized they were the better team and took care of the ball, they looked dominant.
7:23 left in the 3rd quarter and Booker has his mark of 30 points … then adds a lineup to increase his points total to 32. Booker can look forward to sitting with the newly signed Torrey Craig sitting in the audience for this game. The rest of the evening would come sooner rather than later for the Suns starting lineup.
Ayton, like the first quarter, went to the bench to pick up his fourth offense as the T-Wolves were able to cut back in the lead, with seven behind.
Langston Galloway, who had a good fist half the game with five points, came back in the final four minutes of the third quarter. A look at the floor featured four guards in Booker, Abdel Nadar, Galloway and Cam Payne, along with Dario Saric who played the five. This group was able to keep the game a little further out of reach in the fourth quarter before Jevon Carter replaced Booker with a minute left. The lead was a solid one- 91-83.
The lead of 9:06 in the fourth quarter was reduced to six points. A timeout was called and the beginners might be back early.
Bridges back in the game, gave the Suns offense another lift with a 3-point make. But back-to-back tries from the T-Wolves reduced the lead to three!
The point of 5 minutes. Suns led 107-104.
Towns were able to score a try to level the game, but Booker returned with an easy two. Both Edwards and Towns fought against Booker. The only offense that came from the Suns at the time was Booker.
The Suns trailed 115-113 with 2 minutes left in the game before Booker could reach the line and cut it to one, 1-2 from the line.
With the T-Wolves 120-116 and 38 seconds left, Jae Crowder was able to reduce the lead to two. The freestyle match began and the Suns eventually lost 123-119.