Wolves Slip Against Suns

Wolves Postgame Audio
Randy Wittman

Randy Foye

Ryan Gomes

Tonight, it was difficult to identify the home team. Despite the uniforms that indicate home and away squads, Phoenix sure looked comfortable inside the Target Center in the 110-102 victory.

"We let them get their comfort level going and a team like this that leads the league in field goal percentage as a team, you can't let them get into a rhythm, and I thought we came out and really didn't have any intensity in that first half right down the line," head coach Randy Wittman said.

The Wolves never held the lead and fell behind by 18 points in the third quarter as Phoenix improved to 11-5 on the season while Minnesota dropped to 3-10. Shaquille O'Neal and the rest of the Suns crew were incredibly efficient throughout the contest. Steve Nash led the team with 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting and six assists in only 27 minutes of play. O'Neal added 18 points and ten rebounds along with crucial plays down the stretch that kept Minnesota from posing any true threat for a comeback win. With over four minutes remaining in the contest, O'Neal forced the fourth foul on Al Jefferson and then knocked down two free throws to give the Suns a 13-point advantage.

The damage was done early with Phoenix shooting 68 percent from the field at the end of the first quarter and a 16-point lead at halftime. The Suns also enjoyed a dominant performance in the paint at intermission by outscoring the Wolves 30-18 on the inside. Minnesota witnessed a balanced scoring attack from a team looking like a Western Conference contender in November. Raja Bell was hot early and finished with 15 points, Amare Stoudemire scored 16, and Matt Barnes recorded 12 points after hitting the game-winner past Oklahoma City on Tuesday night.

"We had no energy coming into the game and no energy to finish the game," Jefferson said. "We had 21 offensive rebounds and only scored ten points. We got to finish those plays off."

There is no doubt that Jefferson will get his points and rebounds. With 28 points and 17 rebounds, Jefferson posted his seventh double-double of the year. The rest of the Minnesota squad struggled with outside shooting and the team finished 42 percent from the field. Mike Miller could not find the stroke with a 2-for-8 performance and seven total points. Randy Foye scored 17 on 8-of-17 shooting and Ryan Gomes chipped in 16 points in the losing effort.

Turnovers were also a killer for Minnesota. For the season, the Wolves are among the league leaders in assist-to-turnover ratio but on Wednesday night the team committed 17 turnovers that led to 20 points for Phoenix.

Next up for Minnesota is a road contest against Oklahoma City on Friday night at 7 PM.