The Phoenix Suns headed into Minnesota to face the Timberwolves for games one and two. This is the first time both teams are facing off against each other in the postseason in their team’s history. Prior to the series, the Suns were 3-0 matching up vs. the T-Wolves this season.
Going into game one, it was known that Minnesota did not care about their prior matchups vs. the Suns. They wanted to come out early and set an aggressive tone that they hope they can maintain throughout the series.
When things got started, the Suns were in a fast-paced back-and-forth game with Minnesota. Kevin Durant was off to a great start early, leading the way for the Suns as they finished the first quarter with a 28-27 lead. Royce O’Neale capped off the first with a buzzer-beating three-pointer.
Minnesota came out of the break on fire. They were forcing turnovers and playing great defense. Some key players for the T-Wolves were Jaden McDaniels, who played a huge part in Devin Booker’s rough game one, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who had a playoff career-high 18 points off the bench. Minnesota’s stars were also great, with Anthony Edwards scoring 33 points, Karl-Anthony Towns with 19, and Rudy Gobert contributing 14 points and 16 rebounds while playing great defense. It was clear that the Timberwolves had all the momentum and made Phoenix play up to their pace.
The Minnesota Timberwolves won game one by a landslide, with the score being 120-95. Heading into game two, the Suns’ keys had to be for them to play at their own pace, get Devin Booker going, play Thaddeus Young and Bol Bol, play intense defense while not allowing second chance points, and stop creating turnovers. With an injury late in game one, it was a game-time decision for Grayson Allen to play in game two.
Game two started off rough for the Suns, as they trailed 8-0 early on. But after a sloppy first quarter, they only trailed 24-21 at the end of the quarter.
The Suns continued to make adjustments, and they had better production from their bench. Eric Gordon and Drew Eubanks both stepped up after having a bad game one. Devin Booker got it going, finishing the first half with 13 points, and he got into an altercation with Jaden McDaniels, who was assessed with a technical foul. Despite playing sloppy, Phoenix led at the end of the second quarter 51-50.
For the third quarter, it was an eruption from Minnesota. Grayson Allen once again exited the game after rolling his ankle. Karl-Anthony Towns got the quarter started off strong, giving Minnesota a lead. They jumped out to a nine-point lead, and the Suns were looking gassed on both sides of the ball. The T-Wolves had a 78-71 lead heading into the fourth.
In the final quarter, the Suns slightly fought back, and they trailed by six at one point. After a few costly mistakes, the T-Wolves took a 93-76 lead midway through the quarter. Similar to game one, the Suns just showed a lack of effort, and they were just completely outplayed. They will need to adjust in a big way as they are now down in the series 2-0, after losing 105-93. It was a breakout game for Jaden McDaniels as he had 25 points and 8 rebounds. This continues the Suns’ streak of losing a road game two dating back to 1994.
The series heads back to Phoenix on Friday where the Suns will look to get their first win of the series.
