Todd Barin
Web Editorial Associate
The Timberwolves will face a familiar opponent tonight when they take on the 20-53 Phoenix Suns.
The two Western Conference squads have battled it out three times this season, with Phoenix having a 2-1 edge in the matchup so far.
Minnesota suffered a heartbreaking 107-104 loss the last time they played the Suns thanks to a game-winning 3-pointer by Mirza Teletovic.
“They’re a great shooting team,” Karl-Anthony Towns said. “I still have a grudge over our last game, Teletovic hit that great shot over me, so I still hold that close to me. We just want to come out, compete at the highest level possible so we can come out with a win this time.”
Three wins and three losses since losing in Phoenix, Minnesota has played well and the starters seem to have really come together as a unit.
“Yeah, we’re playing very well together, especially the last couple of weeks,” Andrew Wiggins said. “I wish we would have clicked like this at the beginning of the year, I feel like the outcome would have been a different story. It’s all going to continue towards next year and building on it every day, it’s a process.”
Phoenix Suns head coach Earl Watson had high praise for two Minnesota starters in particular during Monday’s shoot around.
On Zach LaVine:
Zach has always been like a little brother, and the Bruin family is absolutely really close. I saw Zach play a lot in Seattle where he went to high school. To me he’s a unique player. He hasn’t even scratched the surface. He’s talented, he’s athletic, he’s quick, he can handle, he can score, he can shoot. When he learns to continue to grow and become a master of watching film, he has to master film. When he played pick-up in the Seattle Pro-Am, scoring is easy, so he averaged 60 easy every time. Once he starts to focus on the details of his game, running the point guard position, making players better, post game, pin-downs, bumps, instead of just isolation in the summer time he’s going to sky rocket in this league. I hope he does well, except for every time that he plays us.
On Towns:
He’s really good, like he’s really good. He can, it’s interesting, score in the post like a big, move on the perimeter like a small forward, and he has the jump shot. For him moving forward, he has to balance the outside from the inside. He can’t just become a pick-and-pop player. A lot of young players come into this league and they become pick-and-pop players because they fall in love with their perimeter skills. If he can continue to balance both, I’m not sure how you guard him in the future, like I’m not sure. He’s going to be really good. And Booker tells me how good he is every day.
Hearing that type of admiration from a former player/current coach should get players, coaches and fans excited about the future in Minnesota.
In three games versus Phoenix this season, Towns has struggled a little bit, only averaging 13 points and eight rebounds, compared to his overall season averages of 18.2 points and 10.3 boards per game.
A player who Towns is close with and who happens to be the opposition in tonight’s matchup is Devin Booker.
“Of course, that’s like my brother, we keep in touch a lot with each other,” Towns said of whether he talks to Booker a lot. “I can’t explain to you how great our relationship is. I’ve watched him a lot and just to see him grow as a player, he’s always been a great shooter, but just being consistent as he is. The biggest thing for him now, and I’m so proud of him like I told him already, is for him to have a stretch recently when he wasn’t shooting the ball too well, but to just come out and always have the confidence that made Devin Booker, Devin Booker.”
The Suns’ shooting guard, who’s the youngest player in the NBA at 19-years old, is averaging 22.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists in his last five games.