Click here for live coverage of tonight's Timberwolves vs. Suns game.
Star Tribune staff writer Chris Hine will be in Phoenix reporting live before, during, during and after Game 4 of the NBA Western Conference quarterfinal series between the Timberwolves and the Suns at Footprint Center. has been submitted. The Wolves held a 3-0 series lead heading into tonight's game.
10:37 p.m.: Devin Booker puts Suns on his back for a two-point lead after three games.
The Timberwolves have been doing well in the third quarter in their series against the Suns, but although they narrowed Phoenix's lead after halftime, the game started with both teams on offense and the score remained 92-90 going into the fourth quarter. I was still at a disadvantage.
The Timberwolves appeared to be in trouble 55 seconds into the third when Rudy Gobert picked up his fourth foul defending Jusuf Nurkic. But with Gobert out, the Timberwolves finally had their first good offensive outburst of the night, as Anthony Edwards led an 8-0 run with two 3s and an assist to Jayden McDaniels.
Gobert's absence gave Phoenix an advantage on the offensive end of the floor even though Bradley Beal was on the bench with four fouls.
However, the Timberwolves had no answer for Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, who had 37 and 31 points, respectively, at the end of the third quarter. Booker went 15-of-16 from the free throw line.
Edwards scored 15 points in the quarter, including four threes, and got the Timberwolves' offense going.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 26 points and Edwards had 24 points for the Timberwolves.
9:50 p.m.: Wolves' first-half shooting is lukewarm as Suns take the lead.
The Timberwolves' poor shooting continued into the second quarter, leading the Suns 61-56 at the end of the first half.
They made just 17 of 45 shots from the floor and 4 of 18 from 3-point range, resulting in a deficit.
Karl-Anthony Towns made 3-of-3 3-pointers while the rest of the team was 1-of-17.
Throughout the first half, neither team was able to take a big lead over the other, with Anthony Edwards recording 2 hits for 8 in the first half. Phoenix's five-point lead was its largest lead of the first half.
Kevin Durant had 20 points in 23 minutes in the first half, and Devin Booker had 19 points, including a buzzer-beater as time expired.
Towns led the Timberwolves with 15 points, and McDaniels added 11 points. The Timberwolves committed just five turnovers in the first half, but the Suns converted them into 12 points.
9:10 p.m.: Suns come out to play and take the lead after 1 p.m.
The Timberwolves got off to a cold shooting start in the first quarter, but trailed just 26-25 heading into the second quarter.
The Wolves went 5-of-22 in the first quarter, but benefited from going 14-of-15 from the free-throw line.
Rudy Gobert ran into foul trouble early, picking up two fouls, both on the same possession, but the Wolves defense held out without putting him on the floor.
Anthony Edwards started the night going 0-for-5.
Jayden McDaniels led the Timberwolves with eight points, while Devin Booker had nine points for Phoenix, six of which came from the foul line.
The Timberwolves made just 1-of-9 3-pointers.
7:14pm: The waiting is the hardest part.
For Timberwolves coach Chris Finch, waiting in a playoff series is certainly the hardest part.
Finch was asked before tonight's game how his team was coping in practices and meetings between games, and he said it's hard not to feel anxious in a series this far apart.
There were two days off between Games 1, 2, and 3, but between Games 3 and 4, there was only one day off for the first time in the series.
“This was a slow series. There was a two-day gap between all the games,” he said. “When you find yourself in a situation like this, whether you're up or down, I think the hardest thing is just waiting. When you play the game and analyze it, you realize what you want to do. You kind of know what you want to do.''What you need to do, what you think they're going to do, and how you need to counter it, you want to do it. Waiting for me is probably the hardest. ”
The Timberwolves opted to rest for Game 4, so they did not practice Saturday or have a shootaround on Sunday. With a close game on the horizon, Coach Finch hopes his team doesn't react too strongly to the emotions of the game.
“It's the same thing we've been talking about since Game 1,” Finch said. “You have to stay calm. What's going to happen, the emotions in the building are going to be high. The opponents' emotions are going to be high, everyone's emotions are going to be high. In-game, game plan. You have to stay within,” ride out the storm and don’t beat yourself up with foolish games. ”
6:37 p.m.: Grayson Allen will not play in Phoenix.
Suns guard Grayson Allen was the NBA's best 3-point shooter this season, but an ankle injury he suffered in Game 1 aggravated in Game 2 and forced him to miss Game 3.
Phoenix coach Frank Vogel said before the game that Allen would not play tonight and that there was a hole in the Suns' lineup due to subpar 3-point shooting.
Royce O'Neal is expected to start in Allen's place along with Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, Devin Booker and Jusuf Nurkic.
The Timberwolves' starters are Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley, Jaden McDaniels, Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards.
5 p.m.: Finch ranks third in NBA Coach of the Year voting
Finch was a finalist for NBA Coach of the Year, but never got the chance.
Mark Daigneault of the Oklahoma City Thunder won 89 of the 99 first-place votes. The Thunder earned the top seed in the West in the 39-year-old Dynor's fourth season. OKC went from 40-42 to 57-25.
In the 54-year-old Finch's fourth season, the Timberwolves improved from 42-40 to 56-26. This was the team's second-best regular season record, behind 58 wins and 24 losses in the 2003-24 season. After 35 seasons, the Timberwolves still have the worst winning percentage in NBA history (.411).
Finch finished third in Coach of the Year voting. Daigneault received 89 first-place votes, nine second-place votes, and one-third of the votes, giving him 473 points. Jamal Mosley (4-36-30, 158 KOs) was second, followed by Finch (1-23-31, 105 KOs).
The other first-place votes were Boston's Joe Mazzula (two votes), New York's Tom Thibodeau (two votes) and Miami's Erik Spoelstra (one vote).
