The Phoenix Suns are one loss away from a first-round elimination. And an offseason fraught with difficult questions.
The Minnesota Timberwolves upset the Suns 126-109 in Game 3 of their first-round series on Friday, bringing a potential superteam to the verge of elimination. Game 4 is planned for Sunday at 6:30 p.m. MST in Phoenix (ESPN).
No club in NBA history has ever recovered from a 3-0 series advantage.
It was a close game for nearly half, but the Timberwolves took a six-point lead at halftime and extended it into the 20s in the third quarter. Anthony Edwards once again looked like a rising star, scoring 36 points on 12-of-23 shooting, adding nine rebounds and five assists.
It was a classic Minnesota win, with Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns both recording double-doubles and Naz Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker scoring in double figures off the bench. Unfortunately, this is a classic Phoenix loss.
Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal all scored more than 20 points, while only Eric Gordon reached double figures. The Suns were already missing Grayson Allen, and the remaining starters, Royce O’Neale and Jusuf Nurkic, combined for three points on 1-of-8 shooting.
If the Timberwolves win on Sunday, they will face the winner of the Western Conference semifinals between the Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Nuggets also have a 3-0 lead in the series.