Minnesota trailed by two in the third quarter Wednesday in Phoenix when Timberwolves coach Chris Finch was ejected after a brief dispute with an official.
He exited, and his Wolves emerged.
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The Timberwolves outscored Phoenix 30-14 over the next 10 minutes to deliver a 121-113 road victory over a team it is jostling with for position in the middle of the Western Conference standings. Wednesday’s bout was very reminiscent of Minnesota’s first-round sweep over the Suns last spring.
“Yeah, everybody had to have some fight, that’s all it took,” Wolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker joked in his postgame, television interview. “Just some fight to step up on the road.”
Phoenix led for most of the first two and a half quarters thanks to some impressive shotmaking. But in the end, the Wolves cranked up the tenacity level to a degree the Suns couldn’t match.
“I think it just took toughness. When we got to the end of the first half, we had built some momentum,” Alexander-Walker said. “We fought, chipped our way back in, and we found a rhythm. We knew what was going to help us and propel us. Man down, missing Naz (Reid), and Naz has been a huge help, but everybody did what we had to do — defended and got stops.”
Everyone for Minnesota was good in the victory. Anthony Edwards led the way with 33 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two steals and four blocked shots to outweigh his seven turnovers. Julius Randle kept Minnesota in touch early with some key scoring and finished with 28 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals. Jaden McDaniels continued his streak of solid play.
Minnesota was sans Reid — who missed the game with an illness — and yet others off the bench stepped up. With the Wolves down two of their top eight players in Reid and Donte DiVincenzo, the rest of Minnesota’s depth is beginning to show. Rob Dillingham was again an offensive spark for Minnesota who’s also making waves with his hustle.
On the defensive end, in his first meaningful NBA minutes, Jaylen Clark came in and set a defensive tone that helped push Minnesota over the top, particularly in the third quarter.
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But the bench star of the night belongs to Alexander-Walker, who torched Phoenix in last year’s playoff series. He buried five triples to finish with 23 points. His showing came just two days after Alexander-Walker had to be helped off the floor after a scary-looking injury that turned out to be a bruise.
Alexander-Walker noted after the struggles to receive playing time he had earlier in his career, he’ll do anything to make sure he’s on the floor whenever he can be now. And he delivered in his minutes Wednesday, breaking out of a shooting slump in the process.
“(Wolves assistant coach) James White kept telling me, ‘Positive, energy, positive energy. Just trust it, trust the work, you take too many shots to worry about that,'” Alexander-Walker said. “And I had to trust that, just allowing the game to come, and trust in God, as well.”
Minnesota shot 56% from the field, including 45% from distance.
The Wolves led by as many as 16 points before a frantic Suns rally pulled Phoenix to within two possessions in the final minute, though the end result was never truly in doubt.
Emotions between the two teams were high, perhaps a lingering effect of the postseason bouts. McDaniels was ejected in the final minute after an exchange with Devin Booker, who finished with 28 points. Kevin Durant led Phoenix with 33 points and seven assists.
The contest provided evidence that the Wolves are still a tier above Phoenix.
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As the NBA enters a period of heavy trade discussion, Minnesota — which has now won four straight with another game Thursday in Utah — likely possesses an increasing belief that it’s a top-six team in a Western Conference that, outside of Oklahoma City, appears to be fairly wide open.
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