Suns at Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves are losers of nine straight and managed 100 or more points only once in that span. The Phoenix Suns, who visit the Timberwolves on Sunday, dropped 12 of their last 13 games and held only one of those 13 opponents under triple digits.
Minnesota was crushed 113-93 at Oklahoma City on Friday and sits 14th in the Western Conference, one game behind the Suns and ahead of only the Los Angeles Lakers. Andrew Wiggins (25 points) was the only starter to score in double figures in the loss, and rookie center Karl-Anthony Towns is in the midst of a shooting slump. The Suns have cured several teams’ shooting slumps of late and let the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers go off for an average of 116.5 points in the first two games of the road trip. Phoenix’s average of 106.6 points allowed ranks 29th in the NBA, and the team is 2-14 since posting a 108-101 home win over the Timberwolves on Dec. 13.
TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, FSN Arizona (Phoenix), FSN North (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE SUNS (13-28): High on Phoenix’s list of problems since the beginning of the season has been forward Markieff Morris, who demanded a trade after the team dealt away his brother in the offseason and has been unhappy ever since. Morris has been in and out of the rotation since serving a two-game suspension for throwing a towel at coach Jeff Hornacek late last month, and he finally returned to the starting lineup on Friday. The Kansas product managed nine points on 2-of-10 shooting in the contest and was a team-worst minus-26 in his 22 minutes on the floor.
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (12-29): The Suns defense overall might be terrible, but center Tyson Chandler still owns a solid reputation on that end of the floor and will set his sights on the struggling Towns. The No. 1 overall pick was held to nine points on 4-of-13 shooting in Friday’s loss and is averaging 11.3 points in the last four games. Towns managed eight points in a season-low 18 minutes in the Dec. 13 meeting at Phoenix.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Timberwolves PG Ricky Rubio is shooting 36.2 percent from the field during the losing streak.
2. Suns F Mirza Teletovic is 17-of-33 from 3-point range in the last four games and scored 22 points on Friday.
3. Phoenix PG Ronnie Price underwent toe surgery on Friday and is expected to miss at least a month.