Phoenix Suns: Three Keys to Victory vs Minnesota Timberwolves
Kevin Durant is set to make his Phoenix Suns home debut tonight against the Minnesota Timberwolves at 7:00 PM PST. The Suns hope to establish a three-game winning streak while Minnesota arrives on a four-game winning streak of their own.
Phoenix is just 1.5 games ahead of the Timberwolves heading into tonight, so a victory could swing major momentum for either team as the regular season comes to a conclusion.
What will it take for the Suns to come out victorious?
Feed the beast
Durant’s home debut has been highly anticipated by many in the Valley.
It was supposed to take place on March 8 but due to an unfortunate accident where Durant slipped during pregame warmups, it was postponed down the road.
The time has finally come though and in order to secure a victory tonight, the Suns will need to get Durant going early. The crowd will be electric and if Durant starts the game off hot the fans will feed off of it and truly give Phoenix a home court advantage.
Also, Durant playing at a high level will open the floor for the rest of his teammates allowing them to thrive with extra defensive attention glued to Durant.
If the game goes down to the wire, we all know where the ball is going: Into the hands of Durant who thrives in these closing moments.
Lock up the big men
The Timberwolves have been hot as of late winning their last four games. A major reason for this has been because of two big men in Karl-Anthony Towns and Naz Reid.
Despite not playing in the Timberwolves' last matchup against the Sacramento Kings, Towns has been phenomenal this year averaging 20.5 points, 7.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists. He has been a huge reason why Minnesota is not only competing for a spot in the play-in but are fighting for an outright playoff spot.
Naz Reid has been a pleasant surprise for the Timberwolves to say the least. In his last seven games, Reid has put up over 10 points in all of them including a 26 point performance on March 22 against the Atlanta Hawks.
Reid has been the main catalyst for Minnesota off the bench and one of the most reliable players on the team during this few game stretch.
It will be up to Deandre Ayton and Bismack Biyombo to limit these two players on the offensive end. If they are successfully able to do that, the Suns should be able to edge out Minnesota tonight.
Devin Booker vs. Anthony Edwards
The best guards that will take the court tonight are clearly Devin Booker and Anthony Edwards.
Edwards is leading the Timberwolves in scoring averaging 24.5 points while Booker has been outstanding this season averaging a career high 28.1 points.
Both shooting guards are emerging as superstars before our very eyes. This game could very well go down to the matchup between Booker and Edwards.
Both have the ability to go off for 30 plus points in their sleep and with Durant and Towns still just coming back from injury and potentially having to shake off some rust, the pressure will be on Booker and Edwards.
