After a second loss to the lower-ranked Pistons on Wednesday night, the Timberwolves needed to beat the short-handed Suns on Friday night. They did just that, building a big lead early on and keeping the Suns in the rearview mirror all game en route to 121. -116 wins at Target Center.
Playing without Devin Booker and Chris Paul, the Phoenix were down 10 points after the first quarter, 15 in the first half, and 17 points in the fourth. Minnesota pushed the lead to his 103-81 early in the fourth quarter, too much for the Suns to overcome.
Anthony Edwards, who paced the Wolves with 31 points, scored a dunk with 90 seconds left to clear any doubts that Minnesota would hold on to the win at home.
D’Angelo Russell had 17 points, Rudy Gobert had 12 rebounds and four steals, and Jayden McDaniels had 14 points, five rebounds and six assists.
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Minnesota played nine players all night and scored 45 points combined with four off the bench. Taurean Prince scored 16, Nas Reid 13, Austin Rivers 9 and Jalen Nowell 7.
The Suns entered 16-7 on Dec. 5, but after losing 16 in their last 21 games, the Suns are 21-23, just behind the 21-22 Timberwolves in the Western Conference race. .
Next article: No rest as Wolves host Cavaliers (27-16). Minnesota will play a day game (2:30 p.m.) against Utah’s Jazz on Monday at 7 p.m. Saturday as part of the NBA’s Martin Luther celebration. King Jr. Day.