Timberwolves gut out impressive and gritty win in intense battle with Suns

Tempers flared and the Minnesota Timberwolves responded.

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch was ejected after picking up his second technical foul during the third quarter of Wednesday night's game against the Phoenix Suns. A surprised and livid Finch had to be held back by Anthony Edwards before he made his way off the court, but Finch's team responded to that fiery outburst, shortly after taking and lead and parlaying that energy into a 121-113 victory over the Suns, their third straight win, at the Footprint Center in Phoenix.

The Wolves (26-21) took control after Finch's ejection (Micah Nori served as the interim coach for the remainder of the game). Minnesota took a four-point lead into the final quarter and quickly pushed that advantage to double digits. A big reason why was Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who was brilliant a game after appearing to suffer a scary injury. Alexander-Walker made a trio of 3-pointers during the fourth quarter on his way to 23 points off the bench for the Wolves.

Eleven of Alexander-Walker's 23 points came during the fourth quarter, and he had a game-best plus-minus of plus-12.

The big effort from Alexander-Walker was critical on a night Minnesota was without Naz Reid, who was ruled out for the game due to illness, in addition to missing Donte DiVincenzo (toe). Without Reid and playing on the first night of a back to back, Finch went deeper into his bench. Luka Garza got early minutes in the first quarter, and Jaylen Clark played his first meaningful minutes of the season. Clark impressed defensively in 10 minutes and had two points and three rebounds.

The final nail in the coffin for the Suns (24-22) was the opening stretch of the fourth quarter. Alexander-Walker drilled his third 3 of the frame, Julius Randle got to the paint for a bucket, and the next possession, Randle got a steal and fed Edwards in transition for a monster dunk and a 100-84 lead, their largest of the night. While Phoenix was able to cut its deficit to as few as six with 40 seconds remaining, it was too little, too late as the damage had already been done.

ANTHONY EDWARDS MY GOODNESS.

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— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) January 30, 2025

Edwards matched a game high with 33 points, seven rebounds, five assists, four blocks and two steals, though he did have seven turnovers, including a stretch during the second quarter when he turned it over three possessions in a row. Kevin Durant matched his offensive output for the Suns with 33 points, seven assists and a pair of rebounds.

Devin Booker had 28 points and eight assists, but had a whopping nine turnovers.

Randle tallied 28 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals. Jaden McDaniels had 14 points and six boards, but was ejected with 20 seconds remaining after poking Booker during a sequence that resulted in double technicals.

On a night the Wolves were undermanned without Reid, coming off an ugly and uninspiring win over the Atlanta Hawks and beginning a tough back to back with both games on the road, they came through with a gritty and critical win in a wild game. They'll be right back at it Thursday night when they visit the Utah Jazz for an 8 p.m. CT tipoff in Salt Lake City.