National Basketball Association
Phoenix 127, Minnesota 120
When: 3:30 PM ET, Sunday, March 23, 2014
Where: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Officials:
#33 Sean Corbin, #49 Tom Washington, #60 James Williams
Attendance:
17866
By SportsDirect Inc.
Suns 127, Timberwolves 120: Markieff Morris hit all three of his 3-point attempts en route to 25 points and visiting Phoenix came from behind for its third straight win.
Eric Bledsoe scored 21 points and P.J. Tucker added 19 for Phoenix, which trailed by as many as 22 in the first half. Goran Dragic contributed 18 points and Gerald Green had 14 in a reserve role as the Suns pulled within a half-game of idle Memphis in the race for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Kevin Love fell just shy of his second career triple-double, finishing with 36 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists for Minnesota. Kevin Martin scored 25 points and Ricky Rubio collected 19 points and nine assists for the Timberwolves, who shot 13-for-44 from the field after halftime.
The Timberwolves' lead was 10 points entering the fourth quarter before Dragic capped a 10-0 run with a 3-pointer to put
Phoenix up 107-106, its first lead since it was 9-8. Bledsoe put
the Suns up for good on a layup with 48.6 seconds left and Minnesota
missed its final four shots while Phoenix went 7-for-8 from the line in
the final 32.7 seconds to seal it.
Love, Martin and Corey Brewer combined for 28 of Minnesota's 41 points in the first quarter and the hosts scored the first eight points of the second to take a 49-27 lead. Tucker's 3-pointer at the buzzer pulled Phoenix within 73-62 at the break as the teams combined to shoot 59.1 percent in the opening half.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Minnesota was 32-for-37 from the line while Phoenix finished 23-for-29. ... Rubio also had three of the Timberwolves' nine steals. ... F Marcus Morris and G Ish Smith combined for 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting off the bench as the Suns finished with a 57.5-percent showing from the field.
Top Game Performances
Phoenix |
|
Minnesota |
Markieff Morris 25 |
Scoring |
Kevin Love 36 |
Eric Bledsoe 5 |
Assists |
Kevin Love 9 |
Markieff Morris 8 |
Rebounds |
Kevin Love 14 |
Eric Bledsoe 8 |
Free Throws Made |
Kevin Love 11 |
Goran Dragic 2 |
Steals |
Ricky Rubio 3 |
Markieff Morris 2 |
Blocks |
Dante Cunningham 3 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Phoenix
|
127 |
57.5 |
12-27 |
23-29 |
16 |
42 |
4 |
5 |
19 |
Minnesota
|
120 |
44.0 |
8-23 |
32-37 |
25 |
38 |
3 |
9 |
12 |
Upcoming Games
-
Minnesota will play their next game on the road against Memphis. The Timberwolves have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .000 after a loss.
-
Phoenix will play their next game on the road against Atlanta. The Suns have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .000 after a loss.