PHOENIX — Two nights after spoiling a party in Sacramento by delaying the Kings from clinching a playoff berth, the Timberwolves tried to crash the return of Kevin Durant to the Suns after an ankle injury.
But the Wolves' offense lacked some of its recent crispness and couldn't execute enough down the stretch of a 107-100 loss to Phoenix.
The Wolves limited Durant to only 16 points on 5-for-18 but shot just 44% on their end of the floor while committing 20 turnovers to Phoenix's eight. Devin Booker had 29 for Phoenix. Anthony Edwards led the Wolves with 31 points while Karl-Anthony Towns had 25.
The Wolves took advantage of an advantage on the offensive glass to generate their first-quarter offense. Nine of their 25 points in the first quarter were second-chance opportunities, and that kept them in it as Booker got off to a 4-for-5 start.
The Suns led 25-24 after before both teams struggled to score in the second. Towns had 20 first-half points, which included four threes. Outside of Towns, the Wolves shot just 13-for-34. The Suns weren't much better, and were just 39% for the half, and because of that the Wolves led 51-48 at the half.
The Wolves built a 10-point lead with a 9-2 run coming out of the half, but the rest of the third quarter was all Phoenix. The Wolves scored just 14 points in the last 9 minutes, 27 seconds of the quarter. That allowed Phoenix to take an 81-74 lead into the fourth.
____
