Suns’ big 3 look to bounce back at home after frustrating Game 2 in Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS — As the final seconds ticked off the clock Tuesday, the Target Center crowd broke right into a thunderous chant: “Wolves in four! Wolves in four! Wolves in four!” Those phrases rained down over the Phoenix Suns as they left the courtroom following a 105-93 loss and ready to return home in a deflating 2-0 gap throughout their first-round playoff collection towards the Minnesota Timberwolves.

It was not the situation the Suns imagined after beating Minnesota handily in all three regular-season conferences nor was it what they envisioned after opening the marketing campaign with championship aspirations thanks to their newly shaped big three of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. But because the Suns grappled with their newfound plight, they might solely blame themselves for shedding their composure and in such a pronounced style, turning what had been a detailed contest in the primary half right into a 19-point deficit in the second half.

The Suns crumpled when the Timberwolves tightened their league-best protection, forcing turnovers that changed into factors. It additionally did not assist when the Suns took out their frustrations on the officers, bickering about calls they felt had been unfair. The frustration was palpable, and the Suns buckled beneath the load of it.

“We’ve got to be better,” Suns coach Frank Vogel stated. “We can’t let the refs distract our focus. The refs didn’t beat us; the T-Wolves did. We got some bad calls, but that happens every game. It happens both ways. We have to be locked in and not let that distract our focus. When they’re swarming on us and we’re not getting the right stops, we can’t not be organized offensively.”

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Frank Vogel will get technical foul for arguing with refs

Suns coach Frank Vogel voices his frustration to the referees and is given a technical foul.

“We’re all trying to fight out there, and so far in this series, once it’s turned to s—, we’ve kind of separated instead of being together,” Booker stated. “And that’s everybody, top to bottom. It’s something we’ve got to figure out.”

After a pair of double-digit losses at Minnesota, the Suns, who’re 0-14 when trailing 2-0 in a best-of-seven collection, return home for Game 3 on Friday at Footprint Center.

Minnesota has solely as soon as beforehand held a 2-0 collection lead in franchise historical past — 20 years in the past, towards the Denver Nuggets in the primary spherical.

“We’ve got two days to get it right, but they’re not going to stop,” Beal stated. “They’re going to continue to be aggressive, continue to push the envelope the way they have. And we have to respond. We haven’t responded yet.”

One statistic was significantly evident Tuesday: factors off turnovers.

The Timberwolves tallied 31 and the Suns simply two.

That margin tied the biggest in a playoff recreation over the previous 25 seasons, in accordance to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The Suns completed with 20 turnovers to the Timberwolves’ 14, a discrepancy that does not stand out by itself. But far too typically, the Suns stalled after turning the ball over, both as a result of they had been arguing with officers or one another or they self-deflated — or the entire above. And the Timberwolves saved changing, stretching a six-point lead getting into the fourth quarter into one thing much more — and quick.

The opening of the ultimate body proved pivotal, particularly when Booker picked up his fourth foul with 9:55 remaining. He had tried to lure Karl-Anthony Towns right into a foul by hooking his arm round his whereas driving to the rim, however the referees weren’t fooled. Booker pleaded with the officers, and Vogel challenged the decision, however the name stood. The crowd started chanting, “Baby Booker.” Minnesota was main 84-76, however a 12-2 run by the Wolves swiftly modified that.

“Don’t count us out,” Booker stated. “It’s a series for a reason.”

It proved to be one other off night time for the Suns’ star trio, who mixed for 52 factors on 18-of-45 taking pictures. That tied for the fourth-fewest factors they’ve scored in 43 video games when all three performed, in accordance to ESPN Stats & Information analysis.

Booker completed with 20 factors and 6 turnovers, Beal put up 14 factors on 17 photographs and Durant added 18 factors on 15 photographs — the primary time Durant has scored fewer than 20 factors in 12 playoff video games with the Suns.

But a lot credit score was owed to the Timberwolves’ protection, particularly that of ahead Jaden McDaniels, who additionally scored a staff excessive and playoff profession excessive of 25 factors.

“Their physicality tarnishes our ability to get into our sets faster,” Beal stated. “They do a extremely good job of simply denying [Durant], denying [Booker], being bodily with them. [Anthony Edwards] is choosing me up full [court]. They’re simply making us work earlier than we even get into our units.”

The Suns’ woes had been compounded when sharpshooting guard Grayson Allen aggravated his sprained proper ankle in the third quarter. He left the sport, however Vogel stated X-rays had been damaging and that Allen could be day-to-day transferring ahead. Allen began after spraining his ankle in Game 1, although he scored simply three factors in about 17 minutes Tuesday.

After the sport, Vogel pointed to the Suns’ newness collectively, since that is the primary marketing campaign with Durant, Beal and Booker as teammates.

“We’ve had our bumps in the road, as you’d expect with a group that’s put together in year one,” he stated. “It hasn’t been an easy road for us.”

The coach stated they’ve to deal with the Timberwolves’ stress higher, keep poised and handle the heightened feelings of the playoffs.

Vogel’s general message to his staff was easy: “Keep challenging each other and stay connected.”

“There’s a lot of love in that locker room with that team,” he stated. “You’ve got to make sure we can challenge one another, listen to one another and remain connected.”

Staying related has proved to be a season-long downside for the Suns.

“We play well when we’re playing well,” Booker stated, “and we need to stick together once things turn bad. We’ve done that throughout the season.”

“Something,” he added, “has to be corrected.”