Phoenix-A brutal season for the Phoenix Suns reached a low Sunday with a humiliating defeat at 116-98’s house against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“We don’t play at all with our standards,” said striker All-Star Kevin Durant. “We find out fans and embarrass the way we play. I want us to be better.”
Phoenix lost for the eleventh time in 14 games and fell to 28-33 for the season. The team is four games behind the Dallas Mavericks for the last place in the west conference game tournament and will need a minor miracle in the last 21 games of the season just to have one opportunity in the postseason.
It is far from the situation that the Suns expected in October. They started the season with championship aspirations with a very paid and successful list that includes Durant, four times to the All-Star Devin Booker and the three-time All-Star Bradley Beal.
But after a breath starting the 8-1 season, the Suns have a 20-31 record since November 13. The injuries have not helped, but the Suns were at all their strength on Sunday night and were still enrupted in their own building.
“We have to run, but you have to start,” said coach Mike Budenholzer. “There is no doubt that the classification, the circumstances in which we are, there is consciousness and we have to do something to change it.”
Phoenix actually led 51-49 in the part of Sunday, but Minnesota recovered for an 83-72 advantage in fourth place.
It was then that things really went to the South for the Suns, who did not seem to be giving much effort in the last minutes. They had nine ball losses in the fourth quarter, including several that drove directly to the easy Minnesota baskets. Beal was called to a flagrant foul when he pushed Anthony Edwards in an attempted attempted.
The dispersed boos of the local crowd were heard in the last minutes.
The Timberwolves, led by the 44 points of Edwards, were the much higher team. Julius Randle returned after sitting more than a month due to a groin injury and had 20 points. Donte Divinzzo set the Suns on fire for eight triples and Phoenix’s defense seemed to have little interest in protecting him sometimes.
Minnesota was the team that swept Phoenix of the playoffs last season in the first round. The Timberwolves have won the three regular season meetings this season.
“When adversity arrives, we start floating a bit as a team,” Durant said. “That’s difficult to deal with that.”
Phoenix tied a maximum of the season with 22 ball losses and yielded 40 points of the season with those ball losses. Durant, Booker and Beal combined for 14 of ball losses.
“That’s why we lost,” Durant said. “Forty points outside the ball losses, difficult to overcome. They did not give us the fall of the glass, we only gave them the ball.”
