The road woes continued for the Timberwolves on Saturday night as they fell to the Suns, 107-99.
It marked Minnesota’s fourth-straight loss – all coming on the road – and the Wolves drop to 2-12 on the road this season. The Wolves are no 13-16, 14th in the West. The Suns improve to 6-24, 15th in the West.
When looking for positives, there weren’t many for Minnesota. The team struggled to shoot, shooting just 7-for-35 (20 percent) from the 3-point line. Rebounding, which has been a problem most of the season for the Wolves, was a big problem in this game. The Suns outrebounded Minnesota 51-41.
“The big thing is, if we’re not shooting well, we’ve got to be able to count on our defense and rebounding,” Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau said after the game. “The second shot was a problem, I thought they took away energy from us in terms of getting back and it hurt us.”
Karl-Anthony Towns led the Wolves with 28 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks, but struggled to find his shot, shooting just 11-for-26 from the field and 1-for-7 from deep. Derrick Rose led the second unit with 25 points, continuing his Sixth Man of the Year season. Dario Saric filled in for Taj Gibson (missed the game due to a personal matter) and finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Saric was a +2 in the game, the only plus player for Minnesota. Andrew Wiggins added 14 points and six rebounds, while Jeff Teague had 10 points and 11 assists.
Devin Booker led the Suns with 28 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, shooting 10-for-16 from the field and 3-for-6 from deep. T.J. Warren added 21 points and five rebounds. Rookie Deandre Ayton had an 18-point, 12-rebound double-double. Fellow rookie Mikal Bridges rounded things out with 12 points, five rebounds and three blocks.
The good news for the Wolves is that they now head home for two winnable games.
Minnesota is back at it Monday night against the Kings at Target Center. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on Fox Sports North and 830 WCCO. Tickets are available here.