Scouting Report: Wolves vs. Suns

The Minnesota Timberwolves return home tonight with a shot at winning their season series against the Phoenix Suns in front of a national audience. When the Wolves and Suns tip off at 8 p.m. tonight at Target Center, they’ll do so on ESPN2 with heavy playoff implications on the line.
The Suns have surged since the two teams last met on March 12, going 10-5 since losing to the Wolves that night in Phoenix. That surge has sent the Suns to within one game of the eighth and final playoff spot—they currently trail Denver in the standings and are fending off Utah, which sits 0.5 games back in the 10th spot. Only 2.5 games separate the sixth seed from the 10th seed in the Western Conference’s playoff race, and every game matters.
The Wolves were in the middle of that playoff race the last time these two teams met, but Minnesota has gone 3-11 since that 127-124 win in the desert and currently sit 5.5 games out of the playoff hunt. Tonight, Minnesota not only hopes to spoil Phoenix’s playoff chase, but they also hope to end their own season-high five-game losing streak in the process. Minnesota’s last win came on March 28, a 88-83 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.
Minnesota has played three of their last 14 games at home, going 1-2 in that span. Their last home victory was a 117-100 win over the Denver Nuggets on March 25. The Wolves are 13-14 at Target Center this season, while Phoenix is 12-16 away from home. Last time out
Coming off a 104-95 loss in their first meeting of the season, Minnesota stormed back to beat the Suns 127-124 on March 12 at US Airways Center. Six Timberwolves scored in double-figures during a shootout-like game in Phoenix, led by Kevin Love’s 30 points. Center Nikola Pekovic had 24 points, Derrick Williams added 19, Michael Beasley and Wayne Ellington each had 15 and Luke Ridnour had 10. The Wolves shot 14-for-22 from 3-point range in the game and connected on 56.2 percent of their shots from the field on the night while dishing out 30 team assists. The Suns also had an efficient offensive night, led by Jared Dudley’s 28 points and Steve Nash’s 25 points and 10 assists. But even though Phoenix came back to take a multiple leads in the fourth—the latest being a 120-119 advantage with 2:19 to play—the Wolves held on for the victory. Key matchup: Shooting guard play