Following a euphoric Game 3 win, Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves seek their first playoff sweep in franchise history Sunday night in the desert against Kevin Durant and the Suns.
When the first-round schedule for the 2024 NBA Playoffs was released, the sixth-seeded Phoenix Suns were -130 favorites to beat the third-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves.
Despite having homecourt advantage, finishing with a 56-26 record, and owning the NBA’s best defensive rating by 2.2 points (108.4), the Wolves were the underdogs in the first round for the third straight year. The primary reason was that they went 0-3 against the Suns in the regular season, being outscored by 47 points through those games.
However, that is the regular season. This is the playoffs. It’s chess, not checkers.
Honestly, I couldn’t tell you because I wasn’t here for those first 26 years, and I don’t care what happened beforehand, Wolves Head Coach Chris Finch told the media after Game 3. “The reality is we have a bunch of guys who love playing together. They play hard, they play the right way, they are young, and they let me coach them hard. It’s been fun. That’s been the foundation to grow this little by little. [Still] a long way to go for us, but we don’t really care what happened before because it doesn’t relate to any of us.
Finch’s squad has been breaking records left and right en route to their historic regular season. The fanbase has risen, and there is a never-before-seen level of hype around the Timberwolves. While winning regular season games is fun and a big part of success, legacies are built and destroyed in the postseason. Wolves President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly set a goal of advancing to the second round for the second time in franchise history at media day last fall. That dream felt distant, but Minnesota had all the tools to be not only a great regular season team but also a great playoff team.
We are seeing that unfold right in front of our eyes.
On Friday, the Wolves beat the Suns 126-109 to give them a commanding 3-0 series lead. Throughout the history of the NBA, there has never been a team to come back from a 3-0 hole. Of the 153 times it’s happened, the team trailing in the series forced a game-seven just four times. The Wolves have never swept a team in the playoffs, and the Suns have been swept just once in franchise history (in the second round vs. the Los Angeles Lakers in 1982). While Minnesota will try to bring out the brooms on Sunday, Phoenix, its players, and coaches will fight for pride.
Game Info
- Who: #3 Minnesota Timberwolves (3-0) vs. #6 Phoenix Suns (0-3)
- When: Sunday, April 28 at 8:30 PM CT
- Where: Footprint Center — Phoenix, AZ
- Local TV: Bally Sports North (Michael Grady, Jim Petersen and Lea B. Olsen)
- National TV: TNT
- Radio: KFAN FM 100.3, Wolves App
- Line: Wolves -1.5 | Total: 210.5 (courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
- Jerseys: Wolves (Association), Suns (Statement)
Injury Report
Updated as of Saturday at 8:30 PM CT
Minnesota
QUESTIONABLE:
- Kyle Anderson (right hip pointer)
Anderson logged just eight minutes in Game 3, temporarily filling in when the Wolves were in foul trouble. In Game 2, Anderson was active, but he didn’t play.
Phoenix
QUESTIONABLE:
- Grayson Allen (right ankle sprain)
OUT:
- Damion Lee (right meniscus surgery)
What to Watch For
Don’t Play with Your Food
“I’ve never been swept a day in my life,” Beal told the media after Game 3. “So I’ll be damned if that happens.”
The Timberwolves have been on a completely different level than the Suns in the playoffs, a 360-flip from the regular season. They’ve played lockdown defense on one Hall of Famer and two elite scorers, and the offense has been productive enough to build double-digit leads. Overall, the Wolves have been more composed and professional than the Suns, which are a few reasons why Phoenix finds itself in an unmanageable hole.
According to NBA.com, the second round of the playoffs is set to begin on May 6-7. However, if teams wrap up in the first round early, the conference semi-finals can be moved to May 4-5. It’s looking like the latter will transpire for Minnesota because the Denver Nuggets enter Saturday night with a 3-0 series lead against the Los Angeles Lakers. If the Nuggets take Game 4 and complete the sweep, they will have at least six days to prepare for their next matchup, which will likely be the Wolves, who would have five days before the second round starts if they sweep Phoenix on Sunday.
Would it be cool if the Timberwolves advanced to the second round for the second time in franchise history in front of their home crowd in Game 5 on Tuesday? Of course. Target Center would be as loud as ever. However, the goal is always to minimize the number of games you have to play in the playoffs.
“It’s a tough hill to climb right now, but I haven’t sensed that,” responded Kevin Durant when asked if the Suns have lost belief after Game 3. “Of course, we’re pissed off ‘cause we lost the game, and we’re down 3-0 in the series…But we’re pros, and we understand we got another opportunity”
The Suns will be fighting for their lives in Game 4. They will do whatever it takes to avoid the sweep. On Friday, we saw Head Coach Frank Vogel roll with Kevin Durant at the 5 and Josh Okogie at the 4 with 9:27 left in the fourth. That lineup gave Phoenix some success, as it went on a 9-1 run over the next 1:34 minutes.
Most likely, more dire lineup, matchup, and scheme changes like that one are in store for Game 4. Minnesota must be ready to throw the first punch and stay on top of things by doing more of what they’ve already done.
Bully the Boards
Despite being a small team overall, in the regular season, the Suns ranked 10th in rebounds per game (44.1) league-wide, five spots higher than the Wolves, who ranked 15th (43.6). Much of that success is because of their starting big man, Jusuf Nurkić, who averaged the eighth-most rebounds per game this season (11).
“We’ve got to do a better job, and I’ve got to do a better job taking advantage of the big lineup on the offensive end of the floor,” Finch told Paul Allen on KFAN ahead of Game 1. “There are different ways we can do that. Obviously, we can try to get the ball down inside more. We’ve certainly got to be bigger and better on the offensive glass — try to punish some of those [small Suns] lineups.”
The three times the Wolves met the Suns in the regular season, Minnesota out-rebounded Phoenix by nine, which isn’t horrible. However, Finch wanted his team to seek a more prominent advantage on the glass in the playoffs.
With Game 4 on the doorstep, the Wolves have done exactly that by out-rebounding the Suns by 52 and 19 on the offensive glass alone.
Game 1:
- Rebounds: MIN 52 | PHX 28
- Defensive rebounds: MIN 39 | PHX 25
- Offensive rebounds: MIN 13 | PHX 3
- Second chance points: MIN 20 | PHX 6
Game 2:
- Rebounds: MIN 39 | PHX 41
- Defensive rebounds: MIN 29 | PHX 30
- Offensive rebounds: MIN 10 | PHX 11
- Second chance points: MIN 13 | PHX 11
Game 3:
- Rebounds: MIN 50 | PHX 20
- Defensive rebounds: MIN 35 | PHX 23
- Offensive rebounds: MIN 15 | PHX 5
- Second chance points: MIN 20 | PHX 8
Minnesota’s edge in second-chance points is one of Phoenix’s many demoralizing stats. The Wolves have 53 total second-chance points, while the Suns have just 25. Winning in that category isn’t necessarily indicative of being larger than the other team or having better rebounders. Instead, it shows greater passion, want-to, and will to win.
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Here are three of Minnesota’s 20 second-chance points from Game 3. This play pretty much sums up the series — the Wolves, particularly Anthony Edwards, outworked the Suns, leading to a back-breaking bucket thanks to Phoenix’s poor defensive rotation.
Plays like the one above must be eradicated if the Suns hope to avoid the sweep. There is a good chance that happens with pressure at a season-high for Phoenix, but their lack of composure will likely stay right where it is on Sunday.
Keep the Big Three Bothered
After the play stopped because Jaden McDaniels committed a ticky-tack foul on Devin Booker with 9:27 left in Game 3 and the Timberwolves up 101-80, McDaniels ripped the ball away from Booker as he approached the referee, Kevin Scott, to discuss the call. Booker took offense to this as he slapped the ball out of McDaniels’ hand right in front of Scott.
Jaden had the look of “Yeah, of course, you’re upset. I would be upset if I were you, too,” as he put his hands up and kept nodding his head while bickering back and forth with Devin.
Edwards was in the middle of the two, smiling as the crew chief Tony Brothers came in to hand out technical fouls to McDaniels and Booker.
That wasn’t the first time emotions boiled over for D-Book. It also happened in Game 2, where he went face-to-face with Slim again after pushes were exchanged.
DEVIN BOOKER & JADEN MCDANIELS PUSH & SHOVE IN GAME 2!
McDaniels got a technical. pic.twitter.com/cltK0NEo0q
— Courtside Buzz (@CourtsideBuzzX) April 24, 2024
You can’t blame Booker for continuously getting more upset as this series has progressed. Through the first three games, McDaniels has held him to nine points on 2 of 9 (22.2%) from the floor through 72.1 partial possessions and 13:41 matchup minutes. While D-Book has been the only one to let his emotions boil over truly, the rest of the Suns’ Big 3 has been kept largely in check, especially in individual matchups.
Durant’s averages…
- Through Games 1-3: 24.7 points | 50% FG | 33% 3P | 40.6 mins
- When defended by McDaniels: 6.3 points | 66.7% FG | 5.6 mins
- When defended by Karl-Anthony Towns: 6.0 points | 38.5% FG | 3.7 mins
Beal’s averages…
- Through Games 1-3: 19 points | 47.8% FG | 50% 3P | 40.9 mins
- When defended by Anthony Edwards: 3.7 points | 66.7% FG | 6.6 mins
- When defended by Nickeil Alexander-Walker: 5.0 points | 54.5% FG | 3 mins
Booker’s averages…
- Through Games 1-3: 20.3 points | 43.3% FG | 26.7% 3P | 40.3 mins
- When defended by Alexander-Walker: 5.3 points | 40% FG | 5.1 mins
- When defended by McDaniels: 2.0 points | 22.2% FG | 4.6 mins
After Game 3, a media member asked Beal how the Suns can generate more three-point attempts against the Wolves, who love to funnel Phoenix’s big three into Rudy Gobert at the rim. Bradley summed up Minnesota’s lockdown defense against him, KD, and Booker very well.
“Obviously, ball movement and player movement,” Beal responded. “Just getting the defense to collapse as much as possible. [The Wolves] are a really good team; they are the number-one defensive team, so you have to give them their respects. The way they utilize Rudy, they allow him to go 1-on-1 with any big who catches the ball, so they just fan out and deny Kevin, Book, and me — they deny us all. When we three do have the ball, they force me to go to the basket because they know I like to go to the basket. [In Game 3], they played me a lot of unders, so I was looking for more threes tonight. With Book and KD, they were just trying to be physical with them and force them into a lot of tough contested twos and try to limit their three-point attempts. They do a good job of executing their game plan. We’ve got to be better at executing ours.”
Beal, Booker, and Vogel, who addressed the media after Friday’s game, seemed expectedly deflated. The Suns’ only source of offense (KD, Booker, and Beal) has been kept down and been met with a matador perimeter defense that continues into the paint. The energy has been sucked out of the Suns team and fanbase. If the Wolves correct their primary issue from Game 3, which was sending the Suns to the line 32 times and partly out of their control, Minnesota will put themselves in the best position possible to get five days off between meeting the Nuggets in round two.