Phoenix was not helped by Devin Booker’s 49 points and ends up in the playoffs with Minnesota after 4 games, led by Anthony Edwards

The Phoenix Suns were unable to beat Minnesota in their second home game and are now out of the playoffs after a 116-122 defeat. The home team was not helped by great performances of Devin Booker and Kevin Durant.

Anthony Edwards led Minnesota to the playoffs

Anthony Edwards was the main driver of the favorite in this series, who, except for the second game of the series, dragged the Timberwolves to the promotion. He clearly outperformed the star triumvirate on the Phoenix side (Booker, Durant, Beal) as he had more support from the whole team.

Frenchman Rudy Gobert, who has been one of the best defenders in the league for the last few seasons, also excelled in Minnesota’s defense. And when Edwards was covered, the experienced Karl Anthony Towns was ready to replace him. Phoenix went into tonight’s game knowing they had to win.

Initially, it did well, winning the first passage of the game by a single point and building a five-point lead by halftime. However, starting in the third quarter, Minnesota began to practice the play that has borne fruit all series. This time they let Devin Booker and Kevin Durant excel shooting.

They scored a full 82 points for the Suns. Specifically, Booker missed the 50-point mark by a single point! However, no one else on the team even broke the 10-point mark. The third star of the team, Bradley Beal, scored only 9 points.

The Timberwolves were dragged down by Anthony Edwards, who scored 40 points for the first time in this series and always scored at least 33 points except for the second game. His performance was supported by 28 points from Karl – Anthony Towns and he also added 10 rebounds. Edwards poured in 31 points in the second half and with two minutes left in the game, he secured a definitive 5-point lead for Minnesota, which it would not relinquish for the rest of the game.

Winning the series for the first time in 20 years

Minnesota won its first playoff series in 20 years. The 22-year-old Edwards broke the club record of Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett, for whom tonight’s game was the 8th game in the playoffs when he scored at least 30 points.

The Timberwolves eliminated Phoenix after just 4 games and will most likely face defending champion Denver in the next round of the playoffs. They have a 3-1 series lead over the Los Angeles Lakers. And if Minnesota has Edwards, the Nuggets can again lean on Nikola Jokic, whose performances are driving the Lakers crazy.

Source: NBA