The Timberwolves' supposedly soft opening of the schedule, one in which they only won one more game than they lost, came to an end Tuesday night.
After looking inconsistent in the first handful of games, now came a test of their two-big lineup against one of the best teams in the Western Conference in recent years, Phoenix.
The Wolves trailed most of the night, and their bench kept making a run at the Suns' reserves, but Phoenix's starting unit was able to fend them off for a 116-107 victory.
The Wolves were down by as many as 18 before they made a run in the fourth quarter against Phoenix's bench to pull within 87-85 after back-to-back threes from Anthony Edwards.
Then Phoenix's starters came back in, and the wheels came off for the Wolves, who committed 18 turnovers.
The Suns outscored them 12-3 in the next few minutes and from there sent the Wolves home winless from this two-game road trip.
Cam Johnson finished with 29, including seven threes, while Chris Paul had 15 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds. The Wolves played better when their bench unit mixed with the starters as Naz Reid pitched in 13 points in 16 minutes while Jordan McLaughlin had nine points in 22 minutes. Guard D'Angelo Russell, by contrast, had five points on 2-for-8 shooting. Karl-Anthony Towns and Edwards each had 24 points.
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