But equally clear is the unlikelihood that the two sides will comes to an agreement.

ESPN’s Marc Stein and Chad Ford reported Wednesday that the Suns have discussed a deal with the Wolves “that would send Nash to Minnesota in a package for the No. 2 overall pick.” However, the deal never went beyond an “exploratory stage” due to a “mutual conclusion” on both sides that the trade wouldn’t work.

Suns president of basketball operations Lon Babby has since made himself  perfectly clear that a Nash to Minnesota deal is out of the question.

He told The Arizona Republic’s Paul Coro, “We are not trading Marcin Gortat. Period. End of sentence. We are not trading Steve Nash. Period. Exclamation point.”

Gortat had previously been linked to a deal for the No. 2 pick that would also include the Suns’ No. 13 selection.

On KTAR’s “Doug & Wolf” show, Babby also said, “I have said it a zillion times. We are not trading Steve Nash.”

The allure of course is Williams, and if the Suns can acquire a player they feel can be their star of the future it would at least make sense to entertain the possibility.

If the Suns trade Nash they would presumably be awful next year in what will likely be a lockout-shortened season anyway, and then their 2012 lottery pick could combine with Williams to form a solid 1-2 punch for a team that would still have quality pieces like Gortat, Jared Dudley and Channing Frye.

On the flip side, the Suns would never exile Nash to a rebuilding situation like Minnesota, and although the Wolves would love to acquire Nash to be a mentor to Ricky Rubio it does not make much sense for them to burn an asset as important as the No. 2 pick for a player who will be long gone before they become competitive.

The Suns routinely speak with every team in the league at this point of the season so “exploratory” talks could mean nothing more than Phoenix asking Minnesota what it would take for the No. 2 pick that the Wolves have been dangling since they lucked into it and David Kahn responding by asking for Nash.

These rumors continue to smolder because Minnesota is open to moving the pick and the Suns would love to acquire the UA star Williams, who would be a big draw in the Valley as well as a potential stud, but with the Suns unlikely to deal Nash or Gortat and the Wolves unlikely to be enticed by anything else this inquiry appears to have run its course.

Nash still feels a “loyalty” to Phoenix

Via Coro, Nash reiterated his commitment to the Suns in a presser in advance of his “Showdown in Chinatown” soccer game after being asked if he would ever want to become a Raptor:

“This is a tough question for me. When you’re in a situation (where) you’ve given a lot of your career to one franchise, you feel at home there. I feel a loyalty to my team, our community in Phoenix.

“I want us to try to get back and try to compete for a championship like we did two seasons ago so that’s kind of all I think about. So I don’t plan on leaving but obviously if the opportunity were ever there, where Phoenix were rebuilding or whatever happens, Toronto would be an amazing place to play.

“It’s a great city. It’d be at home in Canada. To be a part of their, hopefully, future success would be great but I don’t really have any plans other than try to get our team back in the playoffs and contend for a championship.”

PHOENIX — Channing Frye had been suffering through an April to forget heading into Monday’s matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Frye averaged 8.5 points on 35.8 percent shooting from the field and 28 percent three-point shooting during the first six games this month, so of course it makes perfect sense that Frye would go berserk with a career-high 33 points on 12-for-18 shooting from the field and a franchise-record-tying nine three-pointers in 14 attempts in Phoenix’s 135-127 overtime win over the Wolves.

Just last week Frye missed all four of his shots (all threes) against these same Timberwolves, yet tonight Channing found his groove and splashed shots throughout the game.

“I’m like the stock market,” Frye said. “I may play bad for a week, but it’s not going to last like that.”

Frye busting out against Minnesota shouldn’t come as a total surprise as he drilled seven treys against the Wolves on Dec. 15 and hit four, five and six against Minnesota at different points last season. You would think by now the Wolves would understand allowing Frye to get into a rhythm is a very bad idea.

Frye tied the franchise record Quentin Richardson originally set on Dec. 29, 2004, in New Orleans and he became the first power forward to knock down that many long balls since Donyell Marshall hit 12 on March 13, 2005.

“Even though you are wide open it is still tough to make that many threes when it comes to an NBA game,” Jared Dudley said. “To have that many I don’t care if you’re wide open or not, it’s impressive. We needed all of them, especially tonight.”

Frye has now recorded all three of his 30-point games as a Sun since Feb. 15 (24 games) after previously producing just three in his first 411 career contests.

Since I’m working on a story on the Suns’ vaunted training staff (AKA The Warlocks) for the summer, I found it interesting that Frye credited them largely for helping him play so well in this one after the rough road swing.

Frye’s right butt cheek was shut off, according to the forward, which caused problems for his thigh and hamstring. But the training staff got that issue firing properly and Frye showed what he can do when in proper alignment.

“At this point in my career it’s pretty simple,” Frye said. “I’m either on balance or I’m off balance. If I’m on balance it’s going in, if I’m off it’s not. I think that’s why Steve is such a phenomenal shooter, because he’s always on balance.”

Frye led a Suns attack that shot 54.3 percent from the floor and 62.1 percent from long range (18-for-29) while enjoying one of their more efficient offensive performances of the year (125.0 per 100), but they gave it up at the other end as a Kevin Love-less Wolves squad hit 54.7 percent of their attempts. Minnesota shot 61.7 percent in the first half and largely got whatever they wanted during the first 24 minutes.

The Suns yielded 117.6 points per 100 possessions in this one yet sadly it was their best defensive output of the last three games, which speaks much more to how atrocious they were in New Orleans and Dallas than anything done well in this one.

“We weren’t very good defensively,” said head coach Alvin Gentry. “Obviously, we gave up 65 points in the first half and they shot 62 percent. We got beat off the dribble; we got beat on post ups; we got beat on flash cuts — so we didn’t guard very good at all the first half. I thought we did a much better job the second half.”

A meaningless game for both teams highlighted by sloppy defense all around and fits of offensive carelessness from Minnesota suddenly became very interesting when Martell Webster drilled a trey to put his team up one with 38 seconds left.

The Suns then got Frye a look for three but he suffered a rare miss, which bounced right back into Dudley’s hands, and he dished it to Nash for the kind of clutch three you wish Two Time would take more often.

After Nash put the Suns up two, Michael Beasley –- who played a fantastic offensive game with 26 points — broke Dudley’s ankles on his way to an And 1 bucket, but Beasley missed the ensuing foul shot.

That gave the Suns one last chance to win it in regulation but after Dudley had a layup blocked out of bounds, Hill’s five-foot bank shot just fell off the rim.

Frye hit his ninth triple during Phoenix’s franchise-record ninth overtime of the season to take a 126-124 lead the Suns would never give up, and Dudley sealed the deal with a three of his own to cap an 8-0 run that put Phoenix up seven.

While Frye was the star on this night, Dudley played the best supporting actor role with 26 points on 10-for-15 shooting to go with five threes in as many attempts. He added eight boards (four offensive), three assists, a whopping five steals and a plus 15 in 38 minutes during this super all-around effort that continues to cement him as a starter in the 2011-12 lineup.

Steve Nash likely clinched his assists crown with 16 helpers in this one, with Frye and Dudley often the beneficiaries, on a night Nash took just four shots and scored only three points before his late triple.

Even if Nash were to go without an assist on Wednesday, Rajon Rondo would need to dish out 18 dimes to overtake him, so Nash will likely earn his fifth assists title in seven years as a Sun against the Spurs.

Hill’s 21-point effort that includes eight assists and four boards ensures that he will become the seventh 38-year-old in NBA history to average at least 13.0 points per game. It’s not a bad list to join: Kareem, Jordan, Malone, Reggie, Parish and Stockton. Also, Hill’s 13 20-point games mark the most for a player his age since Miller in 2004-05.

This game also featured plenty of play from the youngsters on Phoenix’s bench, headlined by Garret Siler receiving 12:04 of non-garbage time. Siler scored two points and grabbed five boards while Robin Lopez got the dreaded DNP-CD. It sure says something when the Suns want to get a longer look at Siler than Lopez.

With Vince Carter out with an knee or a thigh injury (Gentry wasn’t quite sure which one, which gives you an indication of the severity of that ailment) we also saw some of Zabian Dowdell at the two guard (which wasn’t pretty, as he was 2-for-9), and Aaron Brooks didn’t impress much in his five-point, five-assist stint in 18 minutes.

The Suns gutted out their eighth straight victory over Minnesota and have now swept 10 season series in 2010-11, kind of amazing for a team that won’t even finish at .500.

Although a win is a win it’s not good that the Suns needed a career game from Frye and a stellar team shooting night from long range just to beat the worst team in the league without their best player in overtime, but hey, it sure beats what happened Sunday night in Dallas.

And 1

With the loss the Suns clinched the 13th pick in the draft unless they get lucky and wind up with one of the top three slots in the draft lottery. … Retiring play by play man Gary Bender was honored before the fourth quarter with an “18” Suns jersey with his name on the back commemorating the number of years of service he has provided to the franchise. Bender said he was “a little overwhelmed” and that “this is one of the highlights of my entire life.”

Timberwolves

Suns

With both the Suns and Timberwolves now fighting more for ping pong balls than wins, Monday’s matchup between the two teams might come down to who wants to lose more.

Minnesota has lost 13 straight to tie Cleveland for the worst record in the NBA while Phoenix has dropped eight of 10 to free fall out of playoff contention.

The Suns currently sit in 10th place in the West but could drop to 11th if they lose and Utah wins.

Monday will be the second game of a back-to-back for Phoenix after falling in Dallas Sunday.

The Suns didn’t put out much effort against the Mavericks in their last away game of the season in the 115-90 loss.

“Well, we got off to a bad start and we were never in the game,” Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. “They shot the ball well and we couldn’t come up with baskets and couldn’t come up with stops. That’s what the game was.”

Phoenix now returns home to close out the year with two home games this week.

“It’s hard when you’re not playing for anything to try and make it count,” Steve Nash said. “We haven’t done a good job of that and it’s up to us try to finish these last two games on a positive note.”

The loss clinched the Suns’ first losing season in nine years.

Phoenix has won seven straight against Minnesota and look to sweep the season series Monday.

The two teams last met less than a week ago in Minneapolis, with the Suns taking home a 10-point victory.

The Timberwolves were without star forward Kevin Love, who hasn’t played since April 1 against Miami.

The game Monday will likely be a competition between the two benches.

In their last meeting, no Suns starter played the fourth quarter. The game was put in the hands of Aaron Brooks and the rest of the second unit while the rest of the team sat and watched.

Sunday in Dallas, no Phoenix starter played more than 28 minutes.

With just two games left on the schedule, now isn’t exactly the time to play guys for 48 minutes. Gentry is trying to get the young guys some work so hopefully next fall, the team will be more cohesive as a single unit.

Marcin Gortat scored 15 last night to lead the team and he scored 20 when the Suns last met Minnesota.

It seems that the Polish Hammer isn’t quite ready for this season to be over. In his new role as a starter, Gortat is doing what he’s been hoping to do for his entire career as a professional in the NBA.

Steve Nash was limited to 25 minutes Sunday while battling a hamstring injury. Nash said he wants to play in the two remaining games but how much he plays is still up in the air.

The last time Minnesota beat Phoenix was Jan. 16, 2009.

Hakim Warrick helped the bench unit total 58 points in Wednesday's win over Minnesota. (AP Photo/Tom Olmscheid)

With the playoffs out of the question and nothing tangible to play for, it’s up to the Phoenix Suns’ bench and role players to rack up victories as the season comes to a close.

Although it came against the NBA’s worst team without its best player in Kevin Love, the Suns’ second unit rose to the occasion on Wednesday night as Phoenix defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves, 108-98.

Steve Nash and Grant Hill played a combined 39 minutes and every starter aside from Marcin Gortat sat for the entire fourth quarter as they watched Aaron Brooks, Josh Childress, Vince Carter and Hakim Warrick take care of the lowly T-Wolves.

Hill scored 17 points in 19 minutes and Gortat had a monster game with 20 points and 16 boards in a team-high 32 minutes, but it was the bench that should be credited with the win.

The second unit combined for 58 points, all of which came from Brooks, Carter, Childress and Warrick.

The bench mob that’s struggled at times this season did a nice job fending off Minnesota down the stretch as they never let the five-point lead they took into the fourth shrink down below four.

Brooks was a huge reason why, as he controlled the tempo and scored 10 of his 19 points in the final period, making all four of his shots while dishing out three of his six dimes to boot.

Tonight was Brooks’ best performance since his 25-point, eight-assist outburst against the Raptors, and easily his second most efficient performance as he made 8-of-13 shots and turned the ball over only twice in 26 minutes. It came against Luke Ridnour and a laughable Minnesota squad, but maybe the Suns have reason to believe in Brooks as the point guard after the Nash era.

Childress, Gortat, Carter and Warrick did the rest of the Suns’ fourth-quarter scoring, which was Phoenix’s downfall all season long. But it wasn’t only the fourth quarter where the bench mob shined.

After the starters limped through the first quarter to take a 26-23 lead at the end of one, the bench pushed the Suns’ lead to 15 — their biggest of the game — with 3:34 left in the quarter.

Much like the fourth quarter, Carter, Warrick, Brooks and Childress combined for all 30 of the Suns’ second-quarter points, even though they also allowed 30 points and took only a three-point lead into halftime.

The defense wasn’t stellar, but those four bench players — plus Gortat — got it done with the starters on the bench. Warrick played as aggressive as he has in a long time, scoring 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting including a few rim-rattling slams.

Carter also impressed, following up his 23-point game against the Bulls with 12 points and four boards. But it wasn’t his stats that turned heads, but rather a pair of dunks — one following a reverse spin where he planted both feet and threw it down with two hands and another one-handed slam off an alley-oop.

And finally there was Childress, who once again played an efficient all-around game, scoring 10 points off of 5-of-6 shooting while grabbing four rebounds, dishing out three assists and collecting three steals.

In addition to the four bench standouts, Gortat played another Gortat-like game, grabbing 36.3 percent of the Suns’ total rebounds and shooting 8-for-14 from the field to collect his sixth double-double in eight games. He’s averaging 11.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks over his last five games and continues to be one of the few silver linings to come from this season.

It’s hard to find positives out of a victory over the NBA’s worst team when the playoffs are out of the equation, but the play of the Suns’ bench and Gortat’s continual dominance give Phoenix something to smile about with four games remaining in a disappointing 2010-11 campaign.

And 1

Garret Siler, not Robin Lopez, was the first big man off of the bench for the Suns. Siler played only two minutes, however, committing a turnover and scoring zero points and grabbing zero rebounds. … Although it seems impossible to be worse than that stat line, Lopez was. He went 0-for-3 and picked up three fouls in six minutes. But the stats didn’t even tell the story. He airballed a 16-foot jumper, got swatted at the rim by Wesley Johnson on a ball that he should have easily dunked but instead went for a weak left hook, and got embarrassed defensively on a lob feed when he didn’t jump. The seven-footer’s regression remains the biggest mystery of the season.

Suns

Timberwolves

Losers of six of their last seven games, the Phoenix Suns are thirsting for a win. They’ve struggled to gain any traction all season and could use some positivity as they close out a disappointing 2010-11 season and descend into the offseason.

But the reality is, as they’re on the outside looking in with five games remaining, wins and losses mean nothing. In fact, a loss would only give Phoenix more ping pong balls come draft time.

So what should the Suns do from here on out? Don’t tank and lose games on purpose, but play for the future, develop your youngsters and if losses are the end result, so be it.

This isn’t to say the Suns should start Garret Siler and Zabian Dowdell, because they shouldn’t. All it means is that Steve Nash, Grant Hill, Channing Frye and Marcin Gortat shouldn’t be playing 35-plus minutes — all of them but Hill (33 minutes) did exactly that in their Tuesday night loss to the Chicago Bulls.

Alvin Gentry and every Suns fan knows exactly what that quartet can do, so with Phoenix eliminated from the playoffs and little to gain with victories over the lowly Timberwolves, develop guys like Aaron Brooks, Robin Lopez, Jared Dudley, Josh Childress, Dowdell and even Siler.

These next five games can go a long way toward determining if Brooks has what it takes to be Phoenix’s point guard of the future with major minutes (although my assessment is no). Why not see if Lopez can do something positive to close out an absolutely atrocious season?

Gortat is the center of the future and has proven enough, so see if Lopez is even physically capable of playing around 30 minutes per game over the last five, and if not there’s the indication that he shouldn’t be in the future plans — at least as a main cog.

Childress’ playing time has increased, and he’s been a bright spot during the recent slide, averaging 5.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.8 steals on 59.1 percent shooting in 18.6 minutes over the last five games. Play him 25-plus minutes a game and make sure he and his $30-plus million contract should be Hill’s heir apparent at small forward.

Let Dudley further prove he can be a starting shooting guard next season, and give Dowdell a chance to make the roster next year and show he’s a legitimate NBA backup point guard (although in my eyes he already has).

And finally, allow Siler to show to the Suns, and other teams in the market for a big man for that matter, that he’s improved this season and is a serviceable player that can help an NBA team.

These final five games aren’t about beating the 17-61 Timberwolves, getting better at the end of games or further proving that Hill should be on the All-Defensive Team, Frye isn’t only a shooter and Gortat is a double-double-machine. Suns fans already know this isn’t a playoff team, that the Suns can’t defend and that they are incapable of putting games away.

This home stretch is a mini-tryout for the lesser players heading into next season, so the Suns should treat it that way. If they happen to go 0-5, they’ll still miss the playoffs, and they get a greater chance at landing the next big-time rookie in the draft.

Since Nash and the Suns’ brass have repeatedly shot down the slightest inkling of a trade possibility this season, it seems safe to presume all the many variables that would go into a deal won’t materialize in the next two weeks, especially with the Suns finally rolling having won six of seven and 11 of 15.

But here’s what Duffy told Stein about the offseason:

“Steve is a Phoenix Sun and I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say he’s the face of that franchise. But logic dictates that it would be prudent for the Suns to start looking at their long-term future in the summer, so we would expect that they may entertain moving him during the summer. We are ready for that and we anticipate a very respectful process if they decide to look at starting over with a younger core.”

I happen to agree with Duffy that the Suns need to at least mull the possibility this offseason when they could potentially get a lottery pick in return or another asset that could speed up the eventual rebuilding process.

I was certainly surprised that Stein has heard Minnesota has been hottest in pursuit of Nash. Stein’s sources told him that in the Timberwolves’ fantasy Nash would come to Minnesota as a mentor for Ricky Rubio.

John Krolik from ProBasketballTalk finds this as a huge shock:

“To be frank, everything about this is extremely bizarre. To trade for Nash’s contract, the Timberwolves would have to move Sebastian Tefair and Corey Brewer, both of whom have expiring deals, as well as another contract. The Timberwolves are not going to make the playoffs this year, so all Nash would do is keep the Timberwolves from getting a high-lottery pick.

“And why would Nash sign an extension with the Timberwolves? For the opportunity to mentor a player who plays the same position as Nash and has no outside shot to speak of? And where does all of this leave Jonny Flynn? Also, Minnesota has the #27 defense in the league and no defensive presence in the middle. Instead of making a run at Kendrick Perkins or Tyson Chandler, Minnesota wants to focus its cap space on chasing Nash? And again, why would the 37-year old Nash want to sign what will likely be his final deal with the Timberwolves instead of trying to get a ring? Again, this makes no sense. Thanks for keeping us on our toes, Timberwolves.”

I agree with Krolik on every point, and would add the Suns would never send him to a wasteland like Minnesota. For everything he’s meant to this franchise, if a trade ends up having to happen the Suns will deal him to a good situation, which is the exact opposite of what Minnesota is.

Plus, what would the Suns get back? I would love either Kevin Love or Rubio, but dealing a franchise cornerstone makes no sense for a young rebuilding team that is far more than a Nash away from contention.

For now, the Nash rumors have been kept to a minimum (as opposed to the Amare situation from last season) as any movement on this front is unlikely to go down before the summer.

Jason Richardson broke out of his recent slump against the Timberwolves on Wednesday, scoring a game-high 29 points to go with eight rebounds in the Suns' 128-122 win. (AP Photo)

PHOENIX — Wednesday night’s game showed all the signs early on of a classic slumpbuster for the Suns.

And then it didn’t. Then it did again.

How it got categorized after the final buzzer ultimately didn’t matter, as the Suns were looking for any kind of win, and they got it, 128-122 over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Coming off a four-day layoff (and a three-game losing streak), the Suns came out with a ton of energy early in the game and kept it up for most of the contest. After last Friday’s loss to Portland, a number of players spoke of a missing energy and spirit.

Particularly aggressive and energetic was guard Jason Richardson, who has struggled lately.

Richardson came out like a man possessed, scoring 15 points in the first quarter. Richardson had combined for just 18 over the Suns’ last three games — a total he surpassed by halftime (24) on the way to a game-high 29 points.

“We got that [energy] back tonight,” Richardson said. “That’s the type of team we are. If we’re not up with a lot of energy, smiling, high fiving, helping each other out, we’re not good. When we have that energy, we’re at our best.”

Suns point guard Steve Nash also lamented last week that the Suns had lost their energy and also came out with fire in his eyes Wednesday. Nash, however, was able to get back to his role as a creator for the team, as he finished with 19 assists, including 11 in the first half.

“We were definitely better in stretches tonight,” Nash said. “We’ve also got a lot to work on still so we’ll take the win, we’ll take the positives and we’ll try to work on the negatives.”

Nash’s ability to step out of the forefront in terms of scoring was a clear key to the Suns relaxed, fluid play against Minnesota and it was evident from the start that the team’s confidence is great when Nash is directing the show instead of being the show.

With so many storylines to attribute the win to, the angle most discussed beforehand was buried. Center Robin Lopez returned to the starting lineup from injury and quietly played one of his better games this season. Lopez played 23 minutes, contributing 12 points and eight rebounds.

“I felt like I was a lot more capable of doing a lot more things out there,” Lopez said. “It’s that simple.”

Lopez’s return also marked the Suns sixth unique starting lineup this season, as center Channing Frye started as well. Frye made a case for keeping the lineup intact with a team-high nine rebounds, but impressed most late in the game.

Up 91-86 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Suns came out slow in what may have been their only energy slump of the game. Minnesota took advantage, going on a 16-4 run to overtake Phoenix 102-95 with 8:21 to play.

But, as if a switch were flipped, the Suns turned it back on and went on a tear of their own. Less than four minutes later, the Suns were back up 1114-106 following a 19-4 run that included five three-pointers.

Frye hit three of those deep balls and finished with 21 points (12 in the fourth quarter) and Jared Dudley hit two on his way to 11 points.

“We just needed a win,” Suns coach Alvin Gentry said after the game. “It’s just a much-needed win and we have got to take that and try to build from that.”

Gentry also praised the Suns’ rebounding efforts, which may have quietly been the most telling statistic in the game. The Suns, the NBA’s worst rebounding team, outrebounded Minnesota, the league’s best rebounding team, 46-39.

Timberwolves forward Kevin Love led Minnesota with 23 points and a game-high 16 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to aid the team’s late surge. After the Suns’ big run, the T-Wolves tried to chip away at the lead and got within four but couldn’t do enough to avoid extending their eight-game road losing streak to nine.

The return of Lopez bodes well for the Suns, regardless of if he is able to keep playing as well as he did (or better?) Wednesday. Opponents are once again forced to key on the Suns’ post presence, which obviously frees up perimeter shooters. Moreover, the Lopez-Frye combo will likely prove to be a pairing that creates more opportunities for the Suns both in and out of the paint.

“I’m really excited to continue to play with Robin,” Frye said. “It’s kind of easier to get up and pressure a little more when you got ‘Big Fella’ back there.”

The win was certainly an important one for the Suns, but also wasn’t a certain indicator of a change. The Timberwolves have only won six games this season and the Suns had extended time off.

The real test of stamina and identity begins Friday in Dallas as the Suns begin a tough three-game stretch that includes the Mavericks, Thunder and Spurs before the team returns to US Airways Center on Dec. 23 to play the red-hot Miami Heat.

“All three of those games are going to be hard for us; they are all playing well,” Richardson said. “We’ve just got to go out there and continue to play the way we play.”

And1

The Suns might have made the game a little easier had it not been for their 16 turnovers. Minnesota capitalized by scoring 22 points off them. … The win was the Suns’ sixth straight against the Timberwolves, who haven’t beat the Suns since Jan. 16, 2009.

Timberwolves

Suns

Seems like it was just last year Robin Lopez was returning from an injury against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Oh wait, it was just last year.

November 29 of last year to be exact.

Lopez came off the bench for 15 minutes in his first game of the season after undergoing foot surgery in October.

The center scored eight points and took in seven rebounds in his limited appearance.

This time around will be a little different though.

According the Arizona Republic, Lopez is expected to start.

“[There is] no reason to have him warm up then sit on the bench,” Suns coach Alvin Gentry told The Republic. “So we’ll see how that goes and what happens with it, but if he’s ready to go, it’s probably 70-30 that we’ll start him.”

As for the game itself, Lopez’s return couldn’t come at a better time.

Minnesota is ranked first in the NBA in rebounding at 45.8 boards per game, so having Lopez back will at least help with some height in the paint.

The Timeberwolvs are also first in offensive rebounding with 14.3 per game and Phoenix has struggled through the entire early portion of its season in giving away second-chance points.

“We have to find a way to rebound the ball better,” Gentry said. “And this is not exactly where you want to be, playing a team that’s the No. 1 rebounding team in the league, especially on the offensive boards.”

Leading the charge for Minnesota is super big man Kevin Love.

Listed as 6-foot-10, Love plays like he’s 8 feet tall. He’s currently leading the league in rebounding at 15.6 per game.

“He’s killing everybody,” Channing Frye said. “He’s a great rebounder. He’s just kind of like a white Dennis Rodman, except he’s shooting the mess out of the ball, too.”

Love went for 31 points and 31 rebounds earlier this season against the Knicks. It was the first 30-30 game in 28 years.

New York is ranked No. 24 in rebounds allowed.

The Suns are tied for 28th in the league in the same category.

Yeah, Love is probably set for a big game tonight.

For the Suns to get the win, it’s going to be pretty simple: Will they make their shots?

It’s been well documented how Jason Richardson has struggled over the past few games, but the team as a whole hasn’t been up to par either.

Currently on a three-game losing streak, Phoenix has shot 18-of-60 from behind the arc over that stretch.

The team has trailed at the end of the first quarter in all three games as well.

“We had a stretch where we were having great first quarters and it didn’t seem to matter much.” Steve Nash said. “And now we’re getting off to slow starts. [The] bottom line is we just have to play better.”

Phoenix swept four games against Minnesota last season, winning by an average margin of victory of over 19 points.

The two teams look a tad different this season though.

The Timberwolves have gotten quality play from Miami castoff Michael Beasley. The former second overall pick leads the team in scoring at 21.2 per game.

Although the Suns come in with a decisively better record, Minnesota is a terrible matchup for Phoenix.

The Suns will need to rebound well and limit the Timberwolves’ second-chance opportunities to get the victory tonight.

Jazz: SLC Dunk | Salt City Hoops | SBN Recap

Nuggets: Denver Stiffs | Roundball Mining Company | The Nugg Doctor | SBN Recap

Thunder: Welcome to Loud City | Planet BBall | SBN Recap

Timberwolves: Canis Hoopus | TwolvesBlog

Blazers: Blazersedge.com | SBN Recap

Recaps: All Previews

The Suns had no answer for Love, but they managed to pull out an important victory nonetheless. (AP Photo/Andy King)

It was far from a perfect game for your Phoenix Suns, but the biggest positive you can take out of it is simply this: they found a way to win.

And at the end of the day, all that matters in the standings is that the Suns pulled out a 111-105 victory, even if they got clobbered on the boards in the second half and nearly let a team that had lost 15 in a row come back from a 25-point deficit.

After a shaky first quarter that featured the Suns missing nine of their first 10 shots, the Suns thoroughly dominated the second period, a quarter they won by a 40-19 margin and built a 25-point lead in.

At this point with the Suns playing so well and the Wolves so poorly, you would think the game would be over and we’d have another 30-point blowout on our hands.

Think again.

The Timberwolves clawed back thanks to a dominant effort on the backboards, outrebounding the Suns 58-41 and securing 20 caroms off the offensive glass. Kevin Love went for 23 points and 22 boards off the bench (tell me again why Darko starts over him), including eight offensive rebounds, and Al Jefferson added 19 and 16. In all the combination of Love and Jefferson corralled three fewer boards than the entire Suns team.

It’s rare for a team to dominate the backboards so completely yet lose, but that just shows you how bad the Wolves are.

What’s amazing is that when these teams met up back on March 16 in Phoenix, a 152-114 Suns win, Phoenix actually took the battle of the boards by a margin of 47-37. That’s a 27-board turnaround between the two games for those of you scoring at home.

Kevin Love was a non-factor in that one, scoring three points on 0-for-7 shooting and grabbing seven boards, and Al Jefferson went for a quiet 13 and eight.

You all know where I’m going next, and this couldn’t completely explain why the Love-Jefferson duo torched the Suns on Sunday but made a minimal impact a couple weeks ago, but it certainly jumps out like a sore thumb.

Yes, the Suns certainly miss Robin Lopez, who went for 12 points and nine boards in that one.

It will take more than one game to see if the Suns miss him this much, but Lopez will often put his big body on the opposition’s best rebounder and that allows other Suns to grab the board.

There’s a reason the Suns improved their rebounding differential by 7.1 a game when Lopez was inserted into the starting lineup and began playing big minutes. But he can’t make this big of a difference, right?

Of course, now Amare Stoudemire (who wasn’t exactly a slouch with 30 points and 17 boards) is the primary rebounder, and he plays with either Channing Frye, Lou Amundson (a great boarder but undersized) or Jarron Collins, who is such a zero offensively it’s hard to play  him. But Collins may be what the Suns need if they get obliterated this badly on the backboards.

For all the positives, this game felt like it was spiraling out of control in a hurry, and when Minnesota cut the 25-point lead to one on a Wayne Ellington runner with 8:30 left, I felt the Suns were going to lose. The old Suns that lost 12 of 13 on the road would have lost with the Wolves grabbing every rebound and the Suns seemingly incapable of doing anything about it.

But there’s a reason the Suns now boast a positive 18-17 road record these days, having won nine of 11 away from Phoenix. They just never let Minnesota take the lead, with Dudley making a layup off a nice Dragic pass and then Goran sticking a jumper to bring the lead back to five.

I know they played a trash team, but it’s a very positive development nonetheless for the Suns to show the kind of hardiness to take back command of a game they had lost control of, and really the Suns are now 17-5 on the road when you take out that one horrendous 13-game stretch.

“I think we’ve got to play better, we’ve got to put teams away,” center Channing Frye told Suns.com. “But a win’s a win, I’m not complaining.”

With the victory Phoenix reduced its magic number to one and continued to take care of business against teams it should beat, as this was the Suns’ 15th straight win over a non-playoff team. The Suns have done this all season long against the dregs of the conference, as they finished 15-1 against the Clippers, Kings, Warriors and Wolves, with the lone loss coming Dec. 26 in Oakland.

The win helped the Suns stay right in the thick of the Nos. 2-5 race, a bunched-up chase that features four solid teams within a game of each other. The Suns are holding down the No. 5 spot, a game behind Dallas and a half game behind Utah and Denver, teams they are tied with in the loss column. They also moved 2 1/2 games up on Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Portland.

“It’s a great win, because it’s a win on the road,” said Suns head coach Alvin Gentry. “It gives us a win so we can keep pace with the people we’re chasing and hold the people off that are chasing us.

And 1

The Suns swept the season series with Minnesota for the first time since 1994-95. … The Suns’ streak of eight consecutive 30-point quarters came to an end in the first, but they followed it up with a 40-point quarter that was better than any period during the run. … With nine games remaining, Phoenix has already won more games than it did last season. … Channing Frye scored 17 points (off five threes) and Leandro Barbosa went for 16 off the bench. LB is becoming The Blur again, as he scored 10 straight points early in the second quarter to push an eight-point lead to 18. … The Arizona Republic’s Dan Bickley wrote a noteworthy column on the Suns’ chemistry on Sunday. See, I’m not the only one who writes about that stuff! …. Suns.com recently posted a nice feature on Steve Kerr’s trip to the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. The Suns’ GM isn’t exactly Daryl Morey, but I certainly hope Kerr and the Suns take advantage of all the advanced stats available. If they don’t then they will be behind the Dallas’ and Houstons of the world.