Suns eclipsed as Edwards' 2nd half surge seals Wolves sweep

PHOENIX — Minnesota star Anthony Edwards noticed early in the third quarter that the Phoenix Suns switched up their defense, playing him one-on-one most of the time instead of using double teams as they did in the first half.

The budding superstar took that as a challenge.

"It was like — you've got to beat us," Edwards said. "And I showed them."

Edwards scored 31 of his 40 points in the second half, while Karl-Anthony Towns added 28 and the Timberwolves pulled away late to beat the Suns 122-116 on Sunday night — sweeping the first-round playoff series.

It's the first playoff series win for the franchise in 20 years.

Edwards finished 13 of 23 from the field, including 7 of 13 from 3-point range. The 22-year-old threw down a powerful, one-handed jam to give Minnesota a 115-111 lead with 2:14 left on the clock.

"We've watched him grow, evolve as a leader, as a player and as a man," Wolves center Rudy Gobert said. "It's been fun."

Phoenix would never recover.

The Wolves finished off the Suns, despite Devin Booker's 49 points from 13 of 21 shots. He also made 20 of 21 free throws. Kevin Durant added 33, but the rest of the team struggled.

Minnesota won after coach Chris Finch left the game late in the fourth after an inadvertent collision with Wolves guard Mike Conley. Assistant coach Micah Nori took over for the final 1:41 and the Wolves closed with relative ease.

Finch has torn patellar tendon in his right knee from the collision.

"Everybody has their role, everybody has each other's back," Nori said. "I know it sounds corny, but it's just next man up, even with the coaching staff."

Minnesota's Jaden McDaniels scored 18 points from 6 of 12 shots and the Wolves had a 44-33 rebounding advantage.

It was a tight fourth quarter and the Suns tied it at 107 on Royce O'Neale's 3-pointer with 4:30 remaining. Edwards and McDaniels hit back-to-back corner 3s to put the Wolves up 113-109 with 3:20 left.

The Wolves now wait to see if they will face the Denver Nuggets or Los Angeles Lakers in the second round.

"Their whole team created a lot of problems for us," Suns coach Frank Vogel said. "The role players, the stars. Anthony Edwards is a special, special talent. And their bigs played really well."

Edwards hit back-to-back 3-pointers early in the third, and McDaniels followed with a powerful dunk, helping Minnesota turn a six-point deficit into a 68-66 lead. It was part of a big third for Edwards, who hit four 3-pointers and had 15 points.

Booker responded, scoring 18 points during the quarter, and the Suns took a 92-90 lead into the fourth. It was a tough game for three-time All-Star Bradley Beal, who scored just nine points on 4 of 13 shots before fouling out.

"They were executing late and we didn't," Booker said.

The Suns threw various formations at the Wolves in the first half, using five perimeter players at various times to try to pull the big men, Gobert and Towns, away from the basket.

Booker hit a fallaway jumper at the buzzer to give the Suns a 61-56 halftime lead. Durant led Phoenix with 20 points before the break, while Booker had 17. Towns had 15 for the Wolves.

Suns guard Grayson Allen missed his second straight game because of a sprained ankle. He averaged 13.5 points per game and led the NBA in 3-point percentage during the regular season.

Agencies via Xinhua