Timberwolves 121, Suns 113: NAW He’s Cold

Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s season-high 23 points helped the shorthanded Minnesota Timberwolves kick into gear in the 2nd half to get their 4th win in a row

The Minnesota Timberwolves traveled to the Valley of the Sun for the first time since sweeping the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the 2023-24 NBA Playoffs. This is a Western Conference battle between two teams in the thick of the fray as they fight for playoff position.

Anthony Edwards facing off against his idol Kevin Durant always makes for good hoops. The Wolves looked to continue their win streak before traveling to Salt Lake City for a back-to-back tomorrow night against the Utah Jazz. The last and only time these two teams met this season, it took a Julius Randle buzzer-beater to take down a shorthanded Phoenix squad.

The recent history between these two teams is loud and we got another chapter in the book tonight.

Nick Wosika-Imagn Images

Devin Booker and Durant started the game off hot as Julius Randle tried to match their output to start the quarter. As the Suns started to carve out a lead, Wolves coach Chris Finch was in the officials’ ears early getting a technical foul seven minutes into the game. Anthony Edwards helped to tie the game at 20 with a couple of buckets down the stretch but Ryan Dunn and Bradley Beal fueled a 9-2 run in the final 1:40 to take a seven-point lead at the end of the first.

With the Timberwolves shorthanded, they needed a boost offensively to keep up with the isolation scorers of Phoenix. Julius Randle provided this spark with eight quick points as Ant went to the bench. Despite this boomlet, the Suns held their comfortable lead for much of the 2nd quarter. The Wolves would not go away, however, as Ant used his 3-point prowess to pull Minnesota within one. Some bad turnovers in the last couple minutes of the first let Phoenix regain their lead, 59-55 at halftime.

The Suns started the third quarter strong ballooning their lead to nine, but the Wolves would not let go. Chris Finch kept up his argument with the referees from the first quarter, which resulted in him getting his second technical and being ejected at the 5:07 mark. In a sight eerily similar to Game 4 of the Phoenix series, Micah Nori patrolled the sidelines for the rest of the night. The defense clamped up down the stretch and Jaylen Clark played some good minutes to take over the lead 81-77 at the end of the third.

A strong start to the 4th quarter and a couple of Nickeil Alexander-Walker threes swelled the Wolves’ lead up to double digits forcing a Phoenix timeout. After a lull in the scoring, the Wolves sprinted on a 12-3 run emphasized by NAW raining more threes and Anthony Edwards dunking and flexing on everything in sight.

The good vibes continued throughout the 4th with only the slight obligatory scare in the form of a 11-3 run during the last three minutes. The Timberwolves closed out an impressive shorthanded win (but not before Jaden McDaniels showed off his hatred for Devin Booker, getting ejected in the process) 121-113.

Key Takeaways

Three-Headed Monster

With the Timberwolves missing Donte DiVincenzo and Naz Reid, they knew they would have to get a lot out of Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle and they delivered. Anthony Edwards dropped 33 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists and Julius Randle had 28 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists with an efficient 10/16 from the floor.

While you’d hope that those two would carry the load, they also got a huge boost from Nickeil Alexander-Walker. NAW had 23 points and 4 rebounds including going 5/10 from three. It was a massive contribution from the bench especially without Reid and DiVincenzo. Nickeil also was the catalyst for barrage to start the 4th quarter hitting three difficult three

Expanding the Rotation

Without two key bench players, you knew there were minutes to be had. Chris Finch (and subsequently Micah Nori) gave a lot of players some run who we have only seen sporadically this year. Josh Minott, Luka Garza, Jaylen Clark, and Rob Dillingham all got minutes in this game. While Josh Minott’s stint was short and uninspiring, lasting all of 12 seconds, and Luka Garza only played four minutes hitting a three both Rob Dillingham and Jaylen Clark both played well in their time.

Rob scored 8 points and added 3 assists providing his usual pop. However, the real star of these reserves was Jaylen Clark. Clark had just 2 points but added three rebounds and played phenomenal defense. They threw him right into the fire having him guard Devin Booker and Bradley Beal and he performed great on those guys. There were also plenty of hustle plays that boosted the energy of the whole team.

January’s Offensive Prowess Continues

In the month of January, the Timberwolves are 10th in offensive rating at 116.7. Their offense has been much improved as the calendar flipped to 2025 and this game continued that theme. Minnesota shot 56% from the field and 44.8% from three while having a 124.7 offensive rating in the game. They got out and ran outscoring the Suns 18-6 in fast break points. This offensive breakthrough is something to keep an eye on heading into February and for the rest of the season.

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Up Next

The Timberwolves will take the short trip north to Salt Lake City and take on the Jazz for a quick road back-to-back tomorrow at 8:00 PM CT. We all know what happened the last time the Timberwolves played in Utah.

Rob Gray-Imagn Images

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Game Highlights