Shorthanded Suns drop heartbreaker at buzzer to Timberwolves

Life without Bradley Beal (left calf strain) and Kevin Durant (left calf strain) keeps getting tougher for the Phoenix Suns after an incredibly difficult to swallow 120-117 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday.

In a game the Suns (9-5) led by 16 early after a two-big gambit worked beautifully for head coach Mike Budenholzer, Minnesota (8-6) didn’t lead until the 1:09 mark of the fourth quarter. The game would get tied up with 46 seconds remaining when the Suns extended their possession twice on offensive rebounds, only for it to end on a shot clock violation at 2.7 seconds left.

Timberwolves forward Julius Randle isolated, and in a clear push-off that Suns wing Josh Okogie did a great job of selling, Randle created enough space for the buzzer-beater 3 that he got off within 0.2 seconds of the clock expiring.

JULIUS RANDLE ENDS IT 🚨🚨

ICE. COLD. 🥶#TissotBuzzerBeater #YourTimeDefinesYourGreatness pic.twitter.com/bn1S9g4ILD

— NBA (@NBA) November 17, 2024

Phoenix was understandably livid with the no-call on a day when it was getting the rough end of a whistle. The Suns were called for several offensive fouls on moving screens, one of the more wishy-washy, deciding-when-to-call-it foul calls you’ll see in everyday NBA play. Minnesota was only called for 13 fouls through an ultra-physical style of play the Suns tried their best to match. As much as it is anger-inducing for the Suns and as much as we’d love to see all games called evenly, it happens, especially on the road.

That is only part of the frustration, though, and the gut shot element to this game was really how Phoenix was in a position to win this game.

The Suns chose to make a significant shakeup to its starting lineup, bizarrely starting both Jusuf Nurkic and Mason Plumlee.

The other wing alongside Tyus Jones and Devin Booker was Ryan Dunn, who of course gives the Suns a primary on-ball defensive option for Anthony Edwards but is a significant downgrade as a shooter compared to Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale. With a two-center look and Nurkic shooting 25.7% from 3, this presumably would cripple the Suns’ spacing.

Minnesota starts Julius Randle alongside Rudy Gobert, a two-big lineup in theory but the 6-foot-9 Randle plays a good chunk of possessions on the perimeter. The Timberwolves are not a ferocious rebounding team, either, slotted 16th in offensive rebounding percentage coming into Sunday. But with Gobert, Randle and the 6-foot-9 Jaden McDaniels, Budenholzer appeared worried about Phoenix’s own shortcomings with size, especially without Durant.

All of that surface-level analysis, though, did not do the decision justice and instead what played out was exactly what the Suns needed — getting Devin Booker on track. Booker shot 15-of-29 for 44 points with six rebounds, seven assists and four turnovers.

So, how did it work?

Suns’ big starting lineup unlocks Devin Booker

As expected, Booker was heavily featured off the ball, upping his work rate significantly by asking him to use high-octane movement before even touching the ball. The kid that grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, watching Detroit Pistons legend Rip Hamilton zoom around screens looked great in the role.

He performed it successfully, and honestly a lot of this probably had to do with Randle’s constant knack for failing to properly defend off the ball. When the second big was in the corner, Randle’s spacing and ability to help elsewhere was awful. Naz Reid is also not a defensive stalwart.

The spacing on the floor was much, much better. While it ultimately broke down late when the game slowed down, it was a complete refresh after back-to-back poor performances in that regard.

Defensively, Phoenix was asking whichever center was in the initial ball screen to trap, knowing another big was lurking behind that to still provide rim protection. It also sprinkled in some zone defenses as well.

The gambit was working on both ends and unlocked the most important benefit. Booker scored 17 of his 44 points in the first quarter. He sorely needed to find a rhythm at some point in this game, and he did so right off the bat, giving the Suns a chance. He was incredibly engaged and wanted this one badly.

Phoenix led by 15 in the late first quarter and got the advantage up to 16, with the initial stun of an unpredictable lineup working like a charm. But for everything that worked superbly well, the Suns reached 10 turnovers by the mid-second quarter. That plus Donte DiVincenzo getting hot for Minnesota allowed it to get within three.

This group, however, was completely locked in and putting in awesome effort to try and make this work. The overwhelming majority of reactions to the lineup were a lethal mix of dread and surprise, a mix that easily could have been shared by the players. Instead, they totally bought in and got after it. It is indeed a new era of Suns basketball compared to last season.

That belief and resolve extended the Suns’ lead to 10 via a 21-14 run in the last 5:42 in the first half.

Halftime adjustments were anticipated for Minnesota to be more prepared but Phoenix’s level of play didn’t fade. Randle scored 28 of his 35 points by the mid-third quarter to cut the deficit to one despite the Suns continuing to clearly be the side playing better. Then Anthony Edwards got going too, scoring 14 of his 24 points across the final 5:28 of the third quarter.

Those two bursts had Minnesota down four entering the final frame, and it was ominous for the Suns given how Booker was the only Phoenix player in double figures at 37 while the T-Wolves had multiple guys in a groove.

And Booker had to rest, making his last break a huge swing point. It began with a 7-0 Suns run, led by two 3s from Grayson Allen. Minnesota cut it down to five and that’s when Budenholzer put Booker back in to have him set to play 40 minutes on the first game of a back-to-back. A Tyus Jones floater with 7:03 left put the Suns up four before there were nine straight possessions without points.

Extreme double-teams arrived for Booker and rookie Oso Ighodaro hit a key floater off one to break that skid and put Phoenix ahead six at just under five minutes remaining.

Minnesota’s offense stayed in that funk established across the scoreless spurt before a vital offensive rebound by McDaniels was kicked out to Edwards for a 3. Allen then committed an offensive foul that was followed by a McDaniels poster dunk on Plumlee to make it 114-113 Suns. A busted possession led to an Allen air-ball 3 and Edwards’ instant response of a banked-in middy gave the T-Wolves their first lead of the game.

Booker scrambled his way from the deep right wing all the way into the corner and down the baseline to find Allen for a 3 that put the Suns up two with 56 seconds left. That’s the point where they’ll be kicking themselves about not putting the game away. Edwards drew two free throws before those last two possessions unfolded.

Allen ended up with 18 points and Jones added 13 with 11 assists and three steals. A career-high 11 points from Ighodaro helped fill out the two-big looks. Those three plus Booker gave the Suns more than enough individually to win this game.

Phoenix now has to fly all the way from Minneapolis to Phoenix before Monday’s matchup with an Orlando Magic squad that has won five straight. Budenholzer said pregame Beal will miss that one as well. The Suns have lost three in a row and four of their last five.

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