Anthony Edwards puts up 40 as Timberwolves finish sweep of Suns

PHOENIX — Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards observed early within the third quarter that the Phoenix Suns switched up their protection, enjoying him one-on-one more often than not as an alternative of utilizing the double-teams from the primary half.

The budding famous person took that as a problem.

“It was like, you have to beat us,” Edwards mentioned. “And I confirmed them.”

Edwards scored 31 of his 40 factors within the second half, Karl-Anthony Cities added 28 factors general and the Timberwolves pulled away late to beat the Suns 122-116 on Sunday evening and sweep the first-round playoff sequence.

The Timberwolves went 19 seasons between playoff sequence victories, tied for the third-longest span between sequence wins in NBA historical past.

Edwards completed 13-of-23 from the sphere, together with 7-of-13 from 3-point vary. The 22-year-old threw down a strong, one-handed jam to present Minnesota a 115-111 lead with 2:14 left.

“We have watched him develop, evolve as a frontrunner, as a participant, as a person,” Wolves heart Rudy Gobert mentioned. “It has been enjoyable.”

Phoenix would by no means get better.

The Wolves completed off the Suns regardless of Devin Booker’s 49 factors on 13-of-21 capturing. He additionally made 20 of 21 free throws. Kevin Durant put up 33 factors for Phoenix, however the remainder of the staff struggled.

Minnesota gained after coach Chris Finch left the sport late within the fourth after an inadvertent collision with Wolves guard Mike Conley. Assistant coach Micah Nori took over for the ultimate 1:41, and the Wolves closed with relative ease.

Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels scored 18 factors on 6-of-12 capturing, and the Wolves had a 44-33 rebounding benefit.

It was a decent fourth quarter, and the Suns tied it at 107 on Royce O’Neale’s 3-pointer with 4:30 remaining. Edwards and McDaniels then hit back-to-back nook 3s to place the Wolves up 113-109 with 3:20 left.

The Wolves now wait to see if they’ll face the Denver Nuggets or the Los Angeles Lakers within the second spherical. Denver leads that sequence 3-1.

“Their complete staff created plenty of issues for us,” Suns coach Frank Vogel mentioned of the Wolves. “The position gamers, the celebs. Anthony Edwards is a particular, particular expertise. And their bigs performed rather well.”

Edwards hit back-to-back 3-pointers early within the third quarter, and McDaniels adopted with a strong dunk, serving to Minnesota flip a six-point deficit right into a 68-66 lead. It was a part of an enormous third for Edwards, who hit 4 3-pointers and tallied 15 factors.

Booker responded, scoring 18 factors in the course of the quarter, and the Suns took a 92-90 lead into the fourth.

It was a tricky sport for three-time All-Star Bradley Beal, who scored simply 9 factors for Phoenix on 4-of-13 capturing earlier than fouling out.

“They have been executing late, and we did not,” Booker mentioned.

The Suns threw numerous appears on the Wolves within the first half, utilizing 5 perimeter gamers at numerous instances to attempt to pull massive males Gobert and Cities away from the basket.

Booker hit a fallaway jumper on the buzzer to present the Suns a 61-56 halftime lead. Durant led Phoenix with 20 factors earlier than the break, whereas Booker had 17. Cities had 15 for the Wolves.

Suns guard Grayson Allen missed his second straight sport due to a sprained proper ankle suffered in Sport 1 that he aggravated in Sport 2. He averaged 13.5 factors per sport and led the NBA in 3-point proportion in the course of the common season.

The Related Press contributed to this report.