Timberwolves at Suns
The Phoenix Suns are used to playing close games, but they are not yet great at closing them out in their own favor. The Suns will try to bounce back from a tough loss when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday.
Phoenix was tied with the Portland Trail Blazers midway through the fourth quarter on Friday before falling off the pace in a 106-96 loss that ended a streak of seven straight games decided by five or fewer points. “We said at halftime, ‘the team that plays defense is going to win this game,’” Suns coach Jeff Hornacek told reporters. “They played better defense than we did in the second half, and the shots we had were tough.” The Suns might not have to worry so much about tough defense from the Timberwolves, who have allowed at least 109 points in each of their last four games. Minnesota began its brief two-game road trip with a 111-108 overtime loss at Denver on Friday and has dropped five of six since reaching .500 with a win at Sacramento on Nov. 27.
TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, FSN North (Minnesota), FSN Arizona (Phoenix)
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (9-13): Minnesota is allowing an average of 103.3 points on the season and counts its only win in the last six games as a 123-122 home triumph over the struggling Los Angeles Lakers. The young team is showing its growing maturity by continuing to battle down the stretch and saw each of those six games decided by eight or fewer points. Budding stars Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns combined for 36 points and 12 rebounds in Friday’s loss and are logging big minutes down the stretch in each game.
ABOUT THE SUNS (10-14): Phoenix is at its best when Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight are both scoring, but Knight is coming off a historically bad performance. The Kentucky product went a career-worst 0-of-12 from the field on Friday and finished with one point in 33 minutes. “We need his scoring with how we play,” Hornacek told reporters. “We were trying to get him to stay aggressive at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but he was just kind of dribbling around and not looking for his shot. Hopefully, you keep taking them and then you make one or two and you get going.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Suns C Tyson Chandler (hamstring) and F Markieff Morris (illness) are both questionable.
2. Timberwolves G Kevin Martin is averaging 29.5 points in the last two games.
3. Phoenix has taken four of the last five in the series, including both home meetings last season.