Timberwolves at Suns
The Phoenix Suns finished off a three-game road trip with a pair of impressive wins on back-to-back days, capped by a 115-103 triumph at Eastern Conference power Toronto on Sunday. The Suns will try to carry that momentum back home when they open a stretch of four of five in their own building by hosting the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday.
Phoenix point guard Eric Bledsoe scored over 20 points in each of the last four games and exploded for a career-high 40 points and a season-best 13 assists in Sunday's triumph. "I'm just trying to win, man," Bledsoe told reporters. "No matter if I'm playing good or not, everybody else is stepping up as well. I've just got to keep playing the way I'm playing and leading my team." The Timberwolves come in hot as well with wins in back-to-back games and five of the last seven while being led by their own young star - second-year center Karl-Anthony Towns. The former No. 1 overall pick knocked down the go-ahead jumper in the final minute of Sunday's 111-108 win over the Denver Nuggets and finished with 32 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and four blocks in his third straight double-double.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FSN North (Minnesota), FSN Arizona (Phoenix)
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (16-28): Crunch time was a big problem for Minnesota for the first half of the season as the young roster adjusted to the demands of head coach Tom Thibodeau, but the team is starting to gain more consistency in the fourth quarter. Towns was hard on himself when the team was going through a rough stretch earlier this season and is putting the team on his back while averaging 28.6 points on 64.1 percent shooting and 13.6 rebounds in the last seven contests. "He's rebounding, scoring, defending, everything," Minnesota guard Andrew Wiggins told the Minneapolis Star Tribune of Towns. "There's nothing he's not doing right now."
ABOUT THE SUNS (15-29): Phoenix is in a rebuilding mode and is trying to decide if Bledsoe is a player around which the team should be building, and he is making his case as a cornerstone with his efforts of late. "This is the best I've seen him," Suns coach Earl Watson told reporters. "He's not just playing at a high level. The points and the assists numbers say a lot, but his vocal leadership has grown. Change is not going to come immediately, but as a team and family, we just stayed with it, and Eric stayed with it." Bledsoe is averaging 24.2 points and 8.3 assists during a 5-4 stretch over the last nine games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Timberwolves PG Ricky Rubio (personal reasons) was not with the team for Sunday's win but is expected to be back on Tuesday.
2. Suns C Tyson Chandler had a string of seven straight games with at least 15 rebounds come to an end on Sunday, when he grabbed nine boards.
3. Minnesota took each of the first two meetings this season, including a 98-85 triumph at Phoenix on Nov. 25.