Anthony Edwards dropped a game-high 36 points to lead the Timberwolves over the Suns — who got a combined 76 points from Bradley Beal, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker — and take the first 3-0 series lead in franchise history.
The Minnesota Timberwolves looked to continue their stranglehold on the series with the Phoenix Suns as the series shifted to the Valley of the Sun on Friday night. With two overpowering victories in front of their rabid crowd at Target Center to start the series, the Timberwolves hope to land a knockout punch on the road.
The Wolves lost both regular season matchups in Phoenix, getting off to very poor starts both times. Minnesota Head Coach Chris Finch spoke pre-game about what it takes to win playoff games on the road.
“I think it is going to continue to be important that we get off to a great start, take care of the ball. We have done a pretty good job of that on the road, take care of the ball. Play with the same physicality that we have been playing with. Just play the game in our minds, not with the emotions of the building. We know what their mindset
Unlike the other two games in Phoenix, the Timberwolves would get off to a hot start jumping out to an early 17-8 lead. With Grayson Allen out with a sprained right ankle, forward Royce O’Neale joined the Phoenix starting lineup, matching up defensively with Karl-Anthony Towns, shifting Kevin Durant onto Jaden McDaniels, Devin Booker onto Mike Conley, and Bradley Beal onto Anthony Edwards.
That was a matchup the Wolves tried to target early on as Towns had 10 early points of four of six shooting including two 3-pointers.
4 POINT PLAY. pic.twitter.com/VmrXFH2CZX
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) April 27, 2024
The Suns would surge back to tie the game at 22, thanks to some early foul trouble from Towns and Rudy Gobert, who both picked up two fouls in the first quarter.
With the two starting bigs, along with Conley, on the bench with foul trouble, Minnesota would have to turn to their superstar guard Anthony Edwards to get them through the rest of the quarter. Ant, as he always does, would rise to the occasion, hitting tough shot after tough shot.
Anthony Edwards jab-step + deep 3 over Bradley Beal pic.twitter.com/zFLy6ikSIm
— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) April 27, 2024
The story of the first quarter would be the Wolves inability to avoid fouls. Minnesota ended the first quarter committing 10 fouls leading to 15 free throw attempts for the Suns.
Despite the free throws, the Timberwolves were able to hold Phoenix to 36.8% shooting from the floor, allowing the Wolves to take a 34-32 heading into the first quarter break.
The game would remain close throughout the second quarter, with no team leading by more than eight points. Ant would continue his strong play, continuing to go at it with Bradley Beal.
Anthony Edwards bump + floater over Bradley Beal, flexes on him pic.twitter.com/5QbhTPXYZK
— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) April 27, 2024
Ant would finish the first half with a game-high 16 points, adding five rebounds on to that as the Wolves took a 59-53 lead at the half. Leading the way for the Suns was Kevin Durant with 14 points.
Coming out of the break, the Wolves would surge ahead, taking their largest lead of the game to this point of the game at 11.
Karl-Anthony Towns hits the wide-open 3, stares at it pic.twitter.com/izpqCOYanY
— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) April 27, 2024
Back-to-back 3s from Nickeil Alexander-Walker would push the lead to 15 for the Wolves.
Nickeil Alexander Walker pull-up 3 + catch-and-shoot corner 3 on consecutive possessions pic.twitter.com/3urQsfHU8c
— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) April 27, 2024
After a Gobert and-one dunk and another 3-pointer from NAW, the Wolves lead ballooned to 19. Frank Vogel would call timeout as boos from Suns fans rained down on their team.
The Timberwolves would continue to pour it on to finish out the third quarter with a 95-73 going into the fourth quarter.
The Suns would fight back though, starting the quarter on a 19-9 run, cutting the Timberwolves lead to 12.
In the end, it would prove to be too little, too late as Edwards would make 18 fourth-quarter points as the Wolves defeated the Suns 126-109 to take a commanding 3-0 series lead.
Edwards led the way with 36 points on 12-23 shooting, including 18 in the fourth quarter. In just his 14th career playoff game, Edwards scored at least 30 points for the seventh time, tying Kevin Garnett for the most in playoff 30-balls in franchise history.
Gobert had 19 points and 14 rebounds. KAT scored 18 points, plus grabbed 13 rebounds. Alexander-Walker added 16 points and five assists off the bench, while Conley scored 15 points (often coming at crucial moments) and dished out seven dimes.
Beal led the way in scoring for the Suns with 28 points with Durant and Booker not far behind with 25 and 23 points each.
Key Takeaways
Foul Trouble
The Wolves dealt with foul trouble the entire first half with Towns, Conley, and NAW picking up three fouls. Gobert and Naz Reid also had two fouls each, leading to some different rotations from Minnesota.
These fouls led to 18 first half free throws for Phoenix, which was largely their only way to generate consistent offense against the Wolves league-leading defense. The Suns shot only 42.1% from the floor while making only four 3-pointers.
The Wolves play a physical brand of defense that has led to Minnesota being the number one defense using defensive rating by a significant margin. The potential downside is that it can sometimes lead to fouling.
The Wolves did well not to let the calls bother them and let if affect other areas of their game. Conley spoke in the locker room about the importance of staying calm when aspects of the game including the officials, aren’t going your way.
“It’s super important for our team. We are an emotional team from our coaches to our players. For us to stay locked in on the next play and what we have to do and accomplish to win this game, it’s my job to try to keep us grounded to that point.”
The Timberwolves have done a good job in this series and pretty much all season at avoiding fouling while also playing killer defense.
For at least one half in Game 3, the Timberwolves struggled to avoid fouls, which at this point in the series seems to be the only way the Suns are going to be able to muster enough offense to compete in this series.
Third Quarter Dominance
As was the case so often for the Wolves in the regular season, the third quarter was lopsided in the Wolves favor. Minnesota would win the quarter 36-20, giving them a 22-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker was the standout player, making four 3-pointers on only five attempts, leading a 20-6 run in less than four minutes that blew the game open.
Bradley Beal: “3rd quarter kicking our ass, ain’t it? Yeah. I mean s***, I don’t know what you want me to say” pic.twitter.com/p0nwLmWOFS
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) April 27, 2024
It was a similar story in the first two games for the Timberwolves as they won the third quarters by ten and eight points respectively.
“It’s really been our mindset,” Conley said about the Wolves third-quarter surges. “It starts with a 0-0 mentality. Underdog mentality. Chip on our shoulder mentality. We need to come out there and play with the same fire that we had in the first half and try to amp up to another level or two.”
The Suns have found occasional offense in the first half of games this series, but in each of the first three games, the Wolves defense has smothered, taking away seemingly everything they are trying to do.
There was a point mid-season where the Timberwolves defense seemed not to have the same teeth as it did to start the season, which is to be expected in a long and tiring season. So far in these playoffs though, the Wolves third-quarter defense has shown why it led the league in defensive rating by a hefty margin.
“Focus and a few tweaks made at halftime,” head coach Chris Finch said at the podium. “Trying to really understand where the game is and what needs to be done.”
Anthony Edwards Masterclass
Coming into this series, the main question for the Timberwolves offense was how Anthony Edwards would deal with the Suns loading up on him whenever he touched the ball.
At points during the regular season when teams would load up on him, Edwards would be determined to put up shots over double-teams, instead of moving the ball and hitting the open man.
Edwards spoke at the post game about how he has been able to be so successful this season.
“My teammates and coaches do a great job of letting me know every time, ‘Hey the low man is in, the corner is open. The low man is straddling the finish, Rudy is open.’ My teammates come up to me and tell me everything their seeing and it helps me a lot.”
Through three games of the playoffs including tonight, Edwards has been brilliant moving the ball when Phoenix brings a second defender and attacking when they did not.
He has had spectacular plays where he has hit shots over future Hall-of-Famers and made simple plays of find Naz Reid and NAW in the corner for wide-open 3-pointers.
Rudy Gobert spoke post-game about the growth he’s seen from Ant these past two seasons.
“His playmaking for sure. His ability to see what’s happening on the floor. His ability to pick the defense apart regardless of the coverage. Last year and early this year they were putting two guys on him and he didn’t really like that. Over the course of the year he started to realize and embrace that when they put two on you it’s the highest form of respect.”
Edwards has been everything a team would want out of a star player and often more. He finished the game with 34 points. And don’t forget, the kid is only 22 years old.
Rotation
Up Next
The series continues Sunday night for Game 4 at Footprint Center in Phoenix where the Wolves will look to take the brooms out for a sweep of the Suns. Fans can watch the 8:30 PM CT tip on TNT or Bally Sports North with Michael Grady, Jim Pete, and Lea B. Olsen.