Game ID: 42300162
Phoenix Suns @ Minnesota Timberwolves
Tuesday, April 23, 2024 at 7:30 PM ET
Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
MIN 24 26 28 27 105PHX 21 30 20 22 93
MIN vs PHX ScoutingMIN vs PHX Scouting
Welcome to the scouting desk. The coffee is cold, the film is play-by-play, and somebody has to explain what happened.
Every game has a hinge — a stretch where it was decided, usually while everyone was watching something else. Start where the evidence lives: the Lineups' face-offs say which five actually won their minutes; the Possessions ledger says who ran ahead of the night's own pace; the Shot Chart says where the points really came from, which is rarely where the highlights were. When all three agree, that is the story. When they don't — that is why this desk has a chair.
MIN availability going into 4/10 · back-to-backOUT Towns missed 17 since 3/07, out tonight
NEW McLaughlin 11 to 17 min over the last 5
MIN availability going into 4/12 · 1 day's restOUT Towns missed 18 since 3/07, returns tonight: 28 min (84% of 33)
NEW McLaughlin 11 to 16 min over the last 5
MIN availability going into 4/14 · 1 day's restBACK Towns back 4/12 after 18, 28 min since (84% of 33)
MIN availability going into 4/20 · 5 days' restBACK Towns back 4/12 after 18, 28 min since (87% of 33)
MIN availability going into 4/23 · 2 days' restBACK Towns back 4/12 after 18, 28 min since (85% of 33)
MIN availability going into 4/26 · 2 days' restBACK Towns back 4/12 after 18, 27 min since (82% of 33)
MIN availability going into 4/28 · 1 day's restBACK Towns back 4/12 after 18, 26 min since (80% of 33)
MIN availability going into 5/04 · 5 days' restOUT McLaughlin missed 2 since 4/26, out tonight
MIN availability going into 5/06 · 1 day's restOUT McLaughlin missed 3 since 4/26, returns tonight: 3 min (30% of 11)
NEW McDaniels 30 to 36 min over the last 5
NEW Alexander-Walker 24 to 29 min over the last 5
PHX availability going into 4/10 · back-to-backBACK Okogie back 4/05 after 2, 3 min since (17% of 16)
PHX availability going into 4/12 · 1 day's restBACK Okogie back 4/05 after 2, 2 min since (14% of 16)
PHX availability going into 4/14 · 1 day's restBACK Okogie back 4/05 after 2, 2 min since (14% of 16)
PHX availability going into 4/20 · 5 days' rest
full strength
PHX availability going into 4/23 · 2 days' rest
full strength
PHX availability going into 4/26 · 2 days' rest
full strength
PHX availability going into 4/28 · 1 day's restNEW Beal 34 to 39 min over the last 5
I Know — the desk, before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Minnesota comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 114 a night and allowing 113, shooting 49 percent and 37 from three, 27 free throws a game; Edwards at 27 and Gobert at 18 a game. It has won the glass by 5 a night. 2 days' rest. Phoenix comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 109 a night and allowing 109, shooting 47 percent and 36 from three, 21 free throws a game; Durant at 24 and Beal at 23 a game. It has lost the glass by 9 a night. 2 days' rest.
So: Minnesota wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Minnesota has been plus-5 a night and Phoenix minus-9 and the line, where Minnesota takes 27 free throws a game to Phoenix's 21. Call it Minnesota 114, Phoenix 109.
4/10 @ DEN 107-116 — MIN notes
MIN lost 107-116. MIN shot 50% (41 of 82) to DEN's 55%, 13 of 30 from three. Edwards led with 25 (9 of 18, 2 of 6 from three, 5 of 7 at the line); Conley added 19, Gobert 13. Q1 was theirs, 28-26, but the other 3 periods went 90-79 against them. Gobert's -17 in 39 minutes was the worst on the floor.
4/12 vs ATL 109-106 — MIN notes
MIN won 109-106. MIN shot 48% (38 of 79) to ATL's 44%, 10 of 37 from three. Gobert led with 25 (10 of 10, 5 of 8 at the line); Reid added 19, Edwards 14. The hinge was Q2, 31-20: MIN came in trailing by 2 and left it ahead by 9, and the lead reached 17.
4/14 vs PHX 106-125 — MIN notes
MIN lost 106-125. MIN shot 51% (36 of 70) to PHX's 55%, 9 of 26 from three, and went to the line 31 times to PHX's 18 — 25 points from the stripe to their 15. MIN turned it over 24 times to PHX's 12, and PHX turned those into 13 steals. Gobert led with 21 (7 of 9, 7 of 9 at the line); Conley added 17, Edwards 13. Q2 was theirs, 31-22, the deficit cut from 22 to 13, but the other 3 periods went 103-75 against them. Edwards's -21 in 35 minutes was the worst on the floor.
4/20 vs PHX 120-95 — MIN notes
MIN won 120-95. MIN shot 50% (44 of 88) to PHX's 44%, 12 of 32 from three. The glass went 52-28 for them. Edwards led with 33 (14 of 24, 4 of 8 from three); Towns added 19, Alexander-Walker 18. The hinge was Q2, 34-23: MIN came in trailing by 1 and left it ahead by 10, and the lead reached 27. Alexander-Walker was the night's best plus/minus at +28.
4/23 vs PHX 105-93 — MIN notes
MIN won 105-93. MIN shot 45% (35 of 78) to PHX's 45%, 9 of 32 from three, and went to the line 30 times to PHX's 19 — 26 points from the stripe to their 15. MIN turned it over 13 times to PHX's 19. McDaniels led with 25 (10 of 17, 2 of 4 from three); Gobert added 18, Conley 18. The hinge was Q3, 28-20: MIN came in trailing by 1 and left it ahead by 7, and the lead reached 19. MIN trailed 50-51 at the half and won the second half 55-42. McDaniels was the night's best plus/minus at +24.
4/26 @ PHX — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Phoenix comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 109 a night and allowing 109, shooting 49 percent and 39 from three, 19 free throws a game; Booker at 24 and Durant at 23 a game. 2 days' rest. Minnesota comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 109 a night and allowing 107, shooting 49 percent and 34 from three, 27 free throws a game; Edwards at 20 and Gobert at 18 a game. It has won the glass by 4 a night. 2 days' rest.
So: Phoenix wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Minnesota has been plus-4 a night and Phoenix minus-3 and the line, where Minnesota takes 27 free throws a game to Phoenix's 19. Call it Phoenix 111, Minnesota 110, Minnesota keeping it close.
4/28 @ PHX — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Phoenix comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 106 a night and allowing 113, shooting 49 percent and 40 from three, 22 free throws a game; Durant at 23 and Beal at 23 a game. That is 3 straight losses. It has lost the glass by 8 a night. One day's rest. Minnesota comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 113 a night and allowing 106, shooting 49 percent and 33 from three, 29 free throws a game; Edwards at 22 and Gobert at 19 a game. That is 3 straight wins. It has won the glass by 10 a night. One day's rest.
So: Minnesota wins, on the road, and the game turns on the glass, where Minnesota has been plus-10 a night and Phoenix minus-8 and the arc, Phoenix at 40 percent from three to Minnesota's 33. Call it Minnesota 111, Phoenix 110, Phoenix keeping it close.
5/04 @ DEN — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Denver comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 109 a night and allowing 106, shooting 46 percent and 31 from three, 16 free throws a game; Jokić at 28 and Murray at 24 a game. It has won the glass by 5 a night. 4 days' rest. Minnesota comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 116 a night and allowing 108, shooting 48 percent and 36 from three, 29 free throws a game; Edwards at 27 and Towns at 17 a game. That is 4 straight wins. It has won the glass by 12 a night. 5 days' rest.
So: Denver wins, and the game turns on the line, where Minnesota takes 29 free throws a game to Denver's 16 and the glass, where Minnesota has been plus-12 a night and Denver plus-5. Call it Denver 111, Minnesota 109, Minnesota keeping it close.
5/06 @ DEN — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Denver comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 106 a night and allowing 107, shooting 46 percent and 32 from three, 19 free throws a game; Jokić at 28 and Porter Jr. at 23 a game. One day's rest. Minnesota comes in 5-0 over its last five, scoring 116 a night and allowing 102, shooting 49 percent and 37 from three, 25 free throws a game; Edwards at 33 and Towns at 19 a game. That is 5 straight wins. It has won the glass by 13 a night. One day's rest.
So: Minnesota wins, on the road, and the game turns on the glass, where Minnesota has been plus-13 a night and Denver plus-2 and the arc, Minnesota at 37 percent from three to Denver's 32. Call it Minnesota 110, Denver 108, Denver keeping it close.
4/10 @ LAC 124-108 — PHX notes
PHX won 124-108. PHX shot 48% (46 of 95) to LAC's 46%, 18 of 50 from three. Booker led with 37 (13 of 24, 5 of 12 from three, 6 of 6 at the line); Beal added 26, Durant 24. The hinge was Q4, 32-15: PHX came in trailing by 1 and left it ahead by 16. PHX trailed 55-56 at the half and won the second half 69-52. Allen was the night's best plus/minus at +18.
4/12 @ SAC 108-107 — PHX notes
PHX won 108-107. PHX shot 53% (40 of 76) to SAC's 44%, 12 of 32 from three. PHX turned it over 18 times to SAC's 7, and SAC turned those into 12 steals. Durant led with 28 (11 of 20, 3 of 7 from three); Booker added 21, Beal 20. The hinge was Q4, 30-22: PHX came in trailing by 7 and left it ahead by 1. PHX trailed 45-54 at the half and won the second half 63-53. Beal was the night's best plus/minus at +8.
4/14 @ MIN 125-106 — PHX notes
PHX won 125-106. PHX shot 55% (47 of 86) to MIN's 51%, 16 of 29 from three, and got to the line 18 times to MIN's 31. PHX turned it over 12 times to MIN's 24. Beal led with 36 (14 of 21, 6 of 6 from three); Booker added 23, Allen 20. The hinge was Q1, 44-22: from level to 22 ahead. Durant was the night's best plus/minus at +30.
4/20 @ MIN 95-120 — PHX notes
PHX lost 95-120. PHX shot 44% (33 of 75) to MIN's 50%, 9 of 28 from three. The glass went 28-52 against them. Durant led with 31 (11 of 17, 7 of 9 at the line); Booker added 18, Beal 15. Q1 was theirs, 28-27, but the other 3 periods went 93-67 against them. Durant's -20 in 39 minutes was the worst on the floor.
4/23 @ MIN 93-105 — PHX notes
PHX lost 93-105. PHX shot 45% (35 of 78) to MIN's 45%, 8 of 22 from three, and got to the line 19 times to MIN's 30. PHX turned it over 19 times to MIN's 13, and MIN turned those into 11 steals. Booker led with 20 (6 of 13, 1 of 6 from three, 7 of 8 at the line); Durant added 18, Gordon 15. Q2 was theirs, 30-26, turning a 3-point deficit into a 1-point lead, but the other 3 periods went 79-63 against them. Booker's -24 in 42 minutes was the worst on the floor.
4/26 vs MIN — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Phoenix comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 109 a night and allowing 109, shooting 49 percent and 39 from three, 19 free throws a game; Booker at 24 and Durant at 23 a game. 2 days' rest. Minnesota comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 109 a night and allowing 107, shooting 49 percent and 34 from three, 27 free throws a game; Edwards at 20 and Gobert at 18 a game. It has won the glass by 4 a night. 2 days' rest.
So: Phoenix wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Minnesota has been plus-4 a night and Phoenix minus-3 and the line, where Minnesota takes 27 free throws a game to Phoenix's 19. Call it Phoenix 111, Minnesota 110, Minnesota keeping it close.
4/28 vs MIN — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Phoenix comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 106 a night and allowing 113, shooting 49 percent and 40 from three, 22 free throws a game; Durant at 23 and Beal at 23 a game. That is 3 straight losses. It has lost the glass by 8 a night. One day's rest. Minnesota comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 113 a night and allowing 106, shooting 49 percent and 33 from three, 29 free throws a game; Edwards at 22 and Gobert at 19 a game. That is 3 straight wins. It has won the glass by 10 a night. One day's rest.
So: Minnesota wins, on the road, and the game turns on the glass, where Minnesota has been plus-10 a night and Phoenix minus-8 and the arc, Phoenix at 40 percent from three to Minnesota's 33. Call it Minnesota 111, Phoenix 110, Phoenix keeping it close.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
PHXBB B. Beal
BB B. Bol
DB D. Booker
DE D. Eubanks
EG E. Gordon
GA G. Allen
JN J. Nurkić
KD K. Durant
NL N. Little
NU Nurkic
RO R. O'Neale
MINAE A. Edwards
JM J. McDaniels
JM J. McLaughlin
KT K. Towns
MC M. Conley
MM M. Morris
NA N. Alexander-Walker
NR N. Reid
RG R. Gobert
TW T. Warren
WM W. Moore Jr.
PHX/MIN the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
END the clock ran out, ball in hand
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur
Timberwolves take 2-0 lead on Suns behind 25 points and ace defense from Jaden McDaniels
MINNEAPOLIS -- — Jaden McDaniels scored 25 points for a career best in the playoffs and spearheaded another stifling defensive performance by the Minnesota Timberwolves in a 105-93 victory over the Phoenix Suns to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round series on Tuesday night.
Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert each had 18 points for the Wolves to offset a smothering of Anthony Edwards by the Suns, who held him to 15 points on 3-for-12 shooting after allowing him 33 in the opener.
The teams head to Phoenix for Game 3 on Friday night. Minnesota has held a 2-0 series lead only one other time in franchise history, against Denver in the first round in 2004 en route to a 4-1 series victory.
“Everyone down the list has shown they’ll be willing to do whatever it takes to sacrifice whatever it is for betterment of the team,” said Karl-Anthony Towns , who had 12 points.
Devin Booker scored 20 points, Kevin Durant added 18 and sixth man Eric Gordon had 15 for the Suns, who again failed to get their high-octane offense in gear.
“When they’re scoring on us and we’re not getting the right stops, we can’t not be organized offensively,” Suns coach Frank Vogel said. “We had too many possessions like that.”
The big three of Booker, Durant and Bradley Beal combined to shoot 18 for 45, with McDaniels leading the list of reasons for the slump.
“We can see it. I can feel it. I can see them. It’s tough,” Gobert said. "No one likes going against the type of defense that we’re playing right now."
After building an eight-point lead in the second quarter and taking a 51-50 edge into halftime, the Suns wore down while Towns got going after early foul trouble.
Phoenix lost guard Grayson Allen to an aggravated ankle sprain in the third quarter. Minnesota's momentum carried into the fourth quarter, and the crowd noise came with it. Conley found Gobert with a bounce pass off the pick-and-roll for an easy slam and an 84-76 lead the Wolves later extended to 19 points, before the 17-year veteran point guard swished a corner 3-pointer that electrified the arena.
The “Wolves in 4!” chant popped up in the final minutes.
“The building’s been amazing. The fans have been unreal,” coach Chris Finch said. “Our guys have risen to their energy, and we were locked in from the start.”
The Wolves used a heavy dose of Edwards on the attack to deliver a 25-point win in Game 1 on Saturday, and the Suns never hesitated to send multiple defenders swarming into his space.
The Timberwolves had trouble making them pay, shooting 9 for 32 from 3-point range. The bench production that helped them dominate the opener waned a bit. The whistles were tighter this time, leading to a costly three-foul first quarter for Towns that kept him out until halftime.
But McDaniels, Gobert and anyone else wisely attacked the basket with abandon, making sure the Wolves could use their size advantage inside.
They passed their test of maturity, too. Booker slammed his forearms into McDaniels after a stray elbow, triggering McDaniels into an ill-advised shove that drew him a technical foul. But the fiery 23-year-old, who missed the 2023 first-round series against Denver with a broken hand after punching a wall out of frustration during the final regular season game, didn't let that define his night.
“Everyone on the team does a good job helping me manage emotions and stuff like that,” McDaniels said. “It’s a physical game. There’s nothing serious between us. Sometimes things happen.”
McDaniels even crashed the boards at the constant urging of his coaches, using his high-flying 6-foot-9 frame to grab eight rebounds. Finch deadpanned that he'd been harping on McDaniels to do so for the last “250 games,” and the staff put him through football-style drills in practice during the week to get him in character.
Jusuf Nurkic (10 points, 14 rebounds) helped negate some of Gobert's award-winning and shot-altering defense. After the Timberwolves set a franchise playoff record with a plus-24 rebounding margin, the Suns had a 41-39 edge, but progress was elusive beyond that.
“Don't count us out,” Booker said. “It's a series for a reason.”