Timberwolves blow out Suns behind balanced offensive effort

The Minnesota Timberwolves have just appeared to have the Phoenix Suns' number the past couple seasons, and that story was no different in Minnesota's blowout 124-109 victory Friday night at a sold-out Target Center in Minneapolis.

"When you play two of the best offensive talents in the world, it's kind of like, naturally, we know we to — like it brings another level of urgency from us," said Rudy Gobert, whose presence on the offensive glass and around the rim on both ends played a big impact on a night he finished with 17 points, 13 rebounds and four steals. "... We got to have that level of urgency every night because the level of talent is everywhere in this league."

The level of urgency was there from the start for the Wolves (42-32) as was the aggressiveness from Julius Randle, who scored 12 of his game-high 25 points in the opening frame. The Suns (35-39) cut a double-digit deficit down to six points by the end of the frame, but Minnesota pushed it back to 12 by the half and completely put the game away in the third.

In addition to his game-high 25 points, Randle also recorded eight assists and six rebounds.

"Just doing what he does really well," coach Chris Finch said of Randle. "... Moving the ball, making quick decisions."

While Randle was collapsing the defense and finding his teammates all over the floor, the entire team was turning in a stellar defensive effort facing Suns stars Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, who shot a combined 11 for 33 from the field. Durant scored a team-high 23 points, while Booker was held to just 10 on 4-for-14 shooting, including 0 for 6 from deep.

Jaden McDaniels was the driver of that defensive effort, and he also got his offensively as one of six Wolves players to score in double figures with 16 points. The balanced offensive effort from Minnesota resulted in assists on 31 of its 47 made field goals, 53% shooting from the field and 49% shooting from 3-point range.

Anthony Edwards exited the game during the first quarter after taking an inadvertent elbow to the face from Durant. Edwards went to the floor and remained there for a while and left to the locker room with a towel covering his face. But Edwards returned after halftime during the Wolves' run. He finished with 20 points, five assists and four rebounds.

Collin Gillespie added 22 points for the Suns and Royce O'Neale hit seven 3s on his way to 21 points off the bench.

Mike Conley and Donte DiVincenzo scored 13 points apiece for Minnesota.

The Wolves return to action Sunday when they host the Detroit Pistons for a 6 p.m. tipoff.

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