Minnesota puts away Phoenix with a winning fourth quarter to sweep the series 122-116
29/04/2024 14:06
The Anthony Edwards show in crunchtime started with outshining his veteran counterparts and ended with clinching the series for the third-seeded Timberwolves
The victorious Minnesota Timberwolves overcame minor injuries to Anthony Edwards and a freak injury to their coach Chris Finch in the second half to eliminate the Phoenix Suns 125-117. The Wolves, despite starting the game shooting less than 35%, overcame a poor start by getting more rebounds (42-31 and 17-9 offensive), doggedly winning the second chance points, and the sheer brilliance of Anthony Edwards over the last 24 minutes. A very hotly contested third period became a track meet after a foul-slogged opening half, but it was the Wolves' bucket-getting in the closing minutes that secured the first series win for them since 2004.
Devin Booker (49 points and 6 assists) and Kevin Durant (33 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 blocks) led the way for Phoenix in the loss tonight, which ended up being the team's seventh straight over two postseasons. Bradley Beal (9 points) had a tough time making an impact in the either half and fouled out.
Jaden McDaniels (18 points) surprisingly led the Wolves in scoring in the first half, and then Edwards (40 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists) and Towns (28 points and 10 rebounds) took over in the third period. Mike Conley (9 points and 7 assists) did his best John Stockton impression - waiting til the fourth quarter to look for his shot - hitting two clutch threes -and nabbing an offensive rebound.
Despite missing four of their first five shots, Minnesota found their scoring at the line to leak ahead at the start. After the Wolves bricked 10 of their first 13 shots, Phoenix was able to tie the game midway through behind Durant and Booker's leadership. Both teams put up over 20 free throw makes in the sloppy stanza - causing Grant Hill to quip "Everything is difficult with Phoenix's execution right now." Eric Gordon's catch-and-shoot three put his team up one, and the Suns left the period up 26-25.
The teams labored throughout the second period to find consistent offense and yet, they stayed within 1-2 possessions of each other. At one point, Edwards and Mike Conley had gone 0-for-9, while Beal wasn't much better. What seemed like Edwards' first field goal tied the game at 46, as the teams ran up their free throw totals. Two rotation players each for Minnesota AND Phoenix had three fouls by the half. Phoenix exited the frame up five with Booker continuing to do a lot of his damage in transition.
Phoenix threatened to forge further ahead to start the third, but a McDaniels' capped off an 8-0 run with a baseline dunk. The frenetic scoring for much of the remaining minutes went some combination of Towns-Durant-Booker-Edwards with a smattering of not much from others. One of the best played 12 minutes in this (and other series) ended with the Suns up by two.
Observations
- Is this the first time a coach during a playoff game couldn't finish the game due to a major injury?
- Takis seem like the quintessential gametime chip based on the sheer amount of ads I see for them.
- I've been having trouble with a player comp for Jeremy Sochan so far. It feels like Jaden McDaniels could be one(?). He made a quick dive down the lane and Towns found him for a dunk early in the first quarter.
- Conley would have made a solid unselfish point guard for this Suns team. The Beal/Booker ballhandling experiment just will not work in the playoffs.
- Sequence of the Game that Big Men Would Love: Late in the first half, Gobert turned away a Booker shot, with Towns finding him downcourt for the most clumsy and-1 possible.
- I again counted the number of times that a Sun that brought the ball up and attempted the shot: 14 [First Quarter = 4 / Second Quarter = 5 (four resulted in Booker points) / Third Quarter = 1 / Fourth Quarter = 4 [one resulted in Booker points and one in Durant points]
- The teams tried to establish the non-stars from the tip. Jusuf Nurkic moved well off the ball for two dunks and blocked Gobert at the other end. Gobert picked up two fouls in only 3 1⁄2 minutes. McDaniels put up eight of his team's first 13 points with his aggression on the baseline and at the rim. An and-1 from Durant tied things at 14. The frenetic period mostly played out at the charity stripe and the Suns went on the shoulders of Durant and Booker's 17.
- A lumbering layup by Towns was answered by Durant's own lithe version to start the second. An ineffective Beal got his third foul shortly later. Gobert found a diving Nickeil Alexander-Walker for a pretty and-1. The action devolved into a sea of personal fouls. A transition three from Gordon put the Suns up three, but McDaniels' putback and-1 tied the game again. The teams made 27 of their first 29 freebies. Booker's off-balance jumper made it 61-56 Suns at the break.
- Towns made another rampaging lay-in to start the third period. Gobert repeated his behavior from the other quarters and picked up his fourth foul. Edwards found McDaniels for a dunk to edge Minnesota ahead again. Towns and Durant's tete-a-tete was a delight to watch. Booker asserted himself more on dribble drives, while Edwards continued to set up himself and teammates equally. After Towns missed a three, Ian Eagle noted "They're human." Edwards also boinked a dunk try sky high. The players seemed relieved when timeout was called at 4:51. The stars continued their offensive domination, and the Suns left the third up 91-86 with a jumper - by Booker of course.
- Beal banked in a shot to start things off for Phoenix in the fourth. Conley's three nudged Minnesota into the lead momentarily. Booker's 5-0 run put the Suns back in the driver's seat. Gobert made up for fumbling away a couple of possessions by blocking Booker. Edwards swished a jumper, but then turned his ankle at the other end. Durant hit a Kyrie-esque floater, but Edwards answered with an pull-up three and a turnaround Jordan fadeaway. Edwards emphatically blocked a Booker dunk attempt. However, a dead-ball foul gifted Booker one freebie, and Royce O'Neal's wing three tied things at 107.
- Edwards and McDaniels' corner threes gave the Wolves a four-point cushion. Beal's turnover cost Phoenix a chance to tie, and Edwards' soaring dunk preceded another lower body owie stepping on Beal's foot. Edwards' free throws put Minnesota up six. Conley was fouled and his momentum caused him to plow right into coach Chris Finch. Finch had to be helped off the court and immediately to the locker room. On top of his scoring dominance, Edwards secured a critical loose ball to kill precious seconds in the last minute of regulation.
Minnesota awaits the winner of the Denver / Los Angeles series, while Phoenix goes into a potentially more expensive offseason than the one it entered into.
