Suns looking for 48-minute effort vs. Timberwolves
After throwing a scare into the Golden State Warriors on Saturday, the Phoenix Suns return to Talking Stick Resort Arena on Monday night to battle the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Suns (17-49) have won their last three against Minnesota (21-45) on their home court.
The Timberwolves are coming off of one of their most impressive victories of the season -- 99-96 at Oklahoma City on Friday night. Rickey Rubio hit a game-winning 3-pointer with 0.2 seconds left. Gorgui Dieng scored a career-best 25 points as Minnesota won for just the fourth time in their last 25 road games.
The Suns are coming off an impressive performance of their own, though they were unable to sustain it for 48 minutes against the NBA 's best team. They led by 10 late the third quarter before Golden State rallied for a 123-116 win to extend their NBA-record home winning streak to 48.
"They're a finished product. They're competing for championships. We're building and we're stuck in the beginning of our process, but we've had the right attitude and we're moving forward," Phoenix coach Earl Watson said. "We also understand that no one's going to give us anything in this league. We have to earn it. We're trying to build a reputation of playing hard."
Brandon Knight matched a career high with seven 3-pointers and scored 30 points in his first start since a nearly two-month absence due to a groin injury. He had 10 points and shot 2 of 9 in a 116-98 loss at Denver on Thursday.
"We saw the difference he makes on our team," Watson said.
Knight also made seven 3-pointers and scored 25 points in a 108-101 home win over the Timberwolves on Dec. 13. He had 20 points in a 117-87 defeat at Minnesota on Jan. 17.
Zach LaVine scored 28 points in the Minnesota's latest visit to Phoenix. Timberwolves leading scorer Andrew Wiggins has averaged 23.5 points in the last four games, going 6 of 11 from 3-point range.
