Kevin Love posted a silent 25-13 as the Suns blew out the Timberwolves. Copyright 2012 NBAE (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Phoenix Suns were ruthlessly efficient from start to finish as they dismantled the Minnesota Timberwolves 114-90 Monday night. The Suns won for the fifth time in April thanks to 57 percent shooting from the field and 66 points from their bench. Kevin Love and the Timberwolves looked listless throughout the entire game and never got anything going on either end of the floor.

“I don’t know what it is,” Love told Suns.com. “They just shot the lights out of the ball. We didn’t commit hard enough fouls or get into guys like we should’ve…”

Love had perhaps the quietest 25-13 in the history of the NBA. He went just 1-for-6 from beyond the arc and turned the ball over four times. He finished the night 7-of-19 from the floor and had little to no impact on the game. Perhaps the most meaningful play for Love came at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Anyone who has watched the Suns this year knew that a 15-point lead meant nothing, especially with Love’s ability to get hot and score in bunches.

After struggling mightily to score for most of the game, Love closed the third with seven straight points and looked poised and ready to continue. The Wolves, knowing he was their only hope to close the gap, forced the ball to him on the opening two possessions of the fourth. Love turned the ball over twice and Phoenix capitalized with a Markieff Morris triple and break-away layup from Sebastian Telfair. The Suns went up 20 and never looked back.

Despite his incredible season, Love will have off games like this from time to time. There was something different about Love’s game tonight, though. He looked baffled by the Suns’ defense and played extremely tentatively. This is a welcome sight for Phoenix with Grant Hill out of the lineup. Containing an elite player like Love isn’t something the Suns can do every night, but it is great to know they are at least capable of an effort like this, especially with their best one-on-one defender in street clothes.

Also disappointing for the Wolves was Nikola Pekovic. The last time these two teams met, Pekovic dominated Marcin Gortat and the rest of the Suns’ frontcourt with 24 points and eight rebounds. He was nearly unstoppable in the post that night, and he looked to be planning an encore when he drew three fouls on Gortat in the first quarter.

That was Pekovic’s only meaningful run of play as he finished with 11 points and just two rebounds. In a game where the Wolves were looking for anyone to step up and assert themselves on either end of the floor, Pekovic was content to fade into the background. This is unacceptable for a big man with his kind of potential on a team missing one its signature players and in serious need of a partner for MVP candidate (but not contender) Kevin Love.

Really the only bright spot for Minnesota was J.J. Barea, who started in place of the injured Luke Ridnour. Barea was too quick for Steve Nash for most of the game. He scored 16 points and dished out five assists.

Overall, the Wolves simply did not come to play tonight and the Suns took full advantage.

Phoenix dominated despite quiet performances by its two best players. Steve Nash had 14 points, but recorded only five assists in his 26 minutes of action. Nash also recorded his 6th block of the season when he turned away Barea’s jumper at the end of the first quarter. Marcin Gortat had just four points and seven rebounds. He sat down after his third personal foul (all on Pekovic) with 23 seconds left in the first quarter, and played just 21 minutes in the game.

Shannon Brown and the bench were there, however, to pick up the slack. Brown had a very efficient night, scoring 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting. He also pulled down seven boards and handed out four assists. Though he took some ill-advised jumpers after it became clear Minnesota had no interest in mounting a comeback, Brown was solid for most of the game. His jump shot looked good in the first half, and he was able to penetrate and create against the Minnesota defense.

Brown has really stepped up in Grant Hill’s absence, and his confident and improved play has contributed to the Suns’ current winning ways as much as anything. This was Brown’s ninth straight game scoring in double figures.

The real story of the game though, was the play of the reserves. Everybody got in on the action for Phoenix. Markieff Morris was the standout performer with 21 points and six rebounds. He was efficient both inside and outside, and he, along with Robin Lopez, played strong defense on Kevin Love. When asked about the bench’s performance, Morris told Suns.com, “It’s great you know, especially if our first unit don’t start the game off great, we come in and try to pick the energy up, play as hard as possible and set the tone for them when they come back.”

Though he is still inconsistent, Markieff is proving, with nights like tonight, that he has a place in the Suns’ future so long as his ability and confidence continue to grow. In the back court, Michael Redd and Sebastian Telfair combined for 27 points on 11-of-16 shooting. The Wolves’ starters and reserves didn’t have an answer for Redd’s quick release jumper or Telfair’s Energizer Bunny-like ball-handling and penetration. These two are becoming a potent tandem and a great change of pace from Nash and the starters. It is tough for any team outside of the elite title contenders to defend both Nash and the Telfair-Redd duo for 48 minutes. This backcourt depth will be a huge asset for Phoenix as it hopes to realize its playoff dream.

Robin Lopez didn’t go off on the scoreboard or the glass, but his toughness, energy, and defense were crucial, especially with Gortat in foul trouble on the bench. He defended Kevin Love well and went toe-to-toe with the NBA’s second best rebounder on the glass. Lopez has shown all season that he isn’t afraid to play against anyone, which is a huge benefit for the Suns. Gortat, at times this year, has shied away from overly physical opponents like Dwight Howard or even Pekovic. In games like these, Phoenix will count on Lopez to anchor the frontcourt. He seems to have the mental toughness and energy to get the job done when he’s called upon for extended duty.

Even Grant Hill, who is still battling back from injury, got in on the action as he sat in with the ESPN announcers, perhaps giving us a glimpse of his future occupation. During the broadcast, Hill said his workouts have been going well, and that he hopes to be back soon. With Phoenix heading into its toughest stretch of the season, Hill’s presence in the lineup will be more than welcome.

The Suns could not have asked for a better way to start off their four-game road trip. Phoenix is three games over .500 for the first all season and sits ninth in the Western Conference standings, a game behind Dallas and Denver. Utah is hot on their heels only a half game behind and Houston in the sixth seed isn’t too far out of reach. Though the home stretch will likely be the toughest string of games the Suns have faced, the team has reason for hope.

Earlier this year and in seasons past, Phoenix was undone not by defeats at the hands of elite teams, but by careless losses to minnows at inopportune times. This team, however, is taking care of business and winning games it should win. Whereas the Suns might have been guilty of playing down to their opponents’ level in the past, the current squad gives their all night in and night out. Sometimes they lose to a good team, and sometimes, like tonight, they trounce a bad one. The difference is that there are no off nights. That is a playoff mentality. No off nights. The playoffs for the Suns started April 1. If the first six games are any indication, they may well live to play in May.

Suns

Timberwolves

PHOENIX — We’ve come to the point of the season where there’s no way to overemphasize how important each and every game is to Phoenix’s playoff hopes.

After all, the Suns kick off a four-game road trip (which feels more like an eight-gamer following Saturday’s brief stop after three straight on the road) with a tilt in Minnesota sitting a game out of the playoff in a mad scramble in which five teams are separated by 2 1/2 games for the final three spots.

Another reminder of the importance of these games comes in the form of the Suns’ national TV schedule. Starting with tonight ESPN2-televised contest, seven of Phoenix’s final 10 games will be featured on TNT, ESPN or ESPN2 after just five of its first 56 games were on one of those networks. That includes three of the four games on this trip alone and the team’s final four games to close out the season.

“Every game, every week is make or break,” Steve Nash said. “We can’t afford to lose two or three in a row, so we’ve got to try to win two or three on the road to put ourselves in a position to upset somebody and then get way ahead of the game, so we’ve got our work cut out for us.”

Before taking on playoff teams in Memphis, Houston and San Antonio, the Suns will first face off with a Minnesota team that spent a good chunk of the season in the playoff hunt before Ricky Rubio’s season-ending knee injury derailed their bid.

The Wolves have since slipped all the way down to 12th in the West after losing five in a row. They just haven’t been the same team without their electrifying Spanish point guard, as they have dropped 13 of 17 after going 21-19 with Rubio healthy to stay in the thick of the playoff race.

However, one of those four victories came on March 12 in US Airways Center when the Wolves torched the Suns for a 129.6 offensive rating, Phoenix’s worst defensive performance of the entire season. Kevin Love pasted 30 on the Suns, and Minnesota knocked down 14-of-22 long balls (63.6 percent) while hitting 56.2 percent of its shots overall.

Love is a beast and will get his as he’s averaging 26.5 points and 13.5 boards per game — numbers that would put him in the MVP conversation if the Wolves were in playoff contention — but the Suns can’t let his supporting cast shoot the lights out as well.

“It’s going to be a challenge,” said the Suns’ red-hot shooting guard Michael Redd. “We’ve got to continue to keep playing the way we are playing and staying together. We kind of hit our stride after the All-Star break.”

That is true, and in many ways the Suns are diametrically opposite the Timberwolves. After all, the Suns’ season took off just around the same time Minnesota’s went down the gutter — the Wolves led Phoenix by three games when they met in the Suns’ first game after the break but trail them by 4 1/2 games today — and Minny possesses all the young talent in the world starting with two young superstars whereas the Suns have a very undefined future predicated on a 38-year-old point guard.

But as things stand today the Suns must win to keep their playoff hopes alive whereas Minnesota is just looking to gain more experience playing together to gear up for a potential breakthrough season next year. The Wolves’ tailspin has left them to play spoiler whereas the Suns’ playoffs started weeks ago for all intents and purposes.

“They’re all big,” Gentry said. “It doesn’t matter, East, West, whoever we play right now we’re at the point of the season where we approach every game like we’re in the playoffs.”

PHOENIX — For five consecutive games in US Airways Center, the Phoenix Suns looked like the 1985-86 Boston Celtics.

As the Western Conference hierarchy continued to take form Phoenix worked its way into the playoff picture and won games by way of crisp rotations, hard closeouts, solid interior defense, and relentless rebounding.

Over the course of their first five home contests following the All-Star break — all wins — the Suns allowed 89.2 points per game while holding opponents to 40.9 percent shooting from the field and 28.2 percent from three.

During that stretch they out-rebounded opponents 240 to 205, yielding an average differential of 7.0 caroms per game.

To put those numbers in perspective, Phoenix’s defensive field goal percentage, defensive 3-point field goal percentage, and rebounding differentials during those five games would all currently lead the NBA.

On Monday evening in US Airways Center, however, that Suns defense disappeared. Kevin Love and the Minnesota Timberwolves had their way with the Suns as they shot 56.2 percent from the field and made 14-of-22 triples en route to a 127-124 victory.

“We did a poor job defensively to say the least,” said Suns guard Jared Dudley, who led the Suns with 28 points and nine rebounds on 10-of-15 shooting. “We did a bad job of rebounding, pick and roll coverage we weren’t crisp at all and they made you pay.”

Kevin Love went for 30 points and five 3-pointers, Nikola Pekovic scored 24 points on 11-for-17 shooting and the Minnesota bench scored 52 points — 40 in the first half — to snap the Suns’ five-game home winning streak.

Despite the poor defense the Suns were able to hang around thanks to Dudley’s big night, 25 points, 10 assists and no turnovers from Steve Nash, and 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting from Channing Frye. Phoenix shot 51.7 percent from the field, 9-for-21 from the land of plenty, turned the ball over only seven times, got to the line 23 times and scored a season-high 124 points.

Phoenix even held a 120-119 lead with 2:20 remaining. But thanks to a Luke Ridnour runner and clutch free throws the Timberwolves surged ahead to lead 125-122. Dudley missed a wide open 3-pointer out of a timeout with 17 seconds left, Marcin Gortat misfired on two crucial free throws and the Wolves held off the Suns in crunch time.

“We played our best offensive game, if not one of our best offensive games this year and had chances, myself the three to tie it,” Dudley said. “We just couldn’t get it done.”

Added Nash: “They just made more plays than we did in the end.”

While the Suns didn’t come up with the big plays down the stretch, ultimately it was Phoenix’s non-existent defense that led to defeat. Gortat and the Suns’ front line allowed Pekovic to score 15 points on 7-for-9 shooting in the first quarter, setting the tone for what would be a dominant performance by the Minnesota frontcourt.

“Pekovic really kind of took control of the game early,” said Suns coach Alvin Gentry.

The Timberwolves’ big man dominated Gortat early and often, which led the Polish Hammer, who scored only eight points and grabbed four rebounds in 19 minutes while battling foul trouble, to admit, “I just wasn’t ready to play.”

Pekovic kickstarted Minnesota and the bench took it from there as the combination of Michael Beasley (15), Wayne Ellington (12), and Derrick Williams (12) combined to score 39 points in the first half to give the Wolves a 63-56 halftime lead.

Love, on the other hand, registered only seven points and four rebounds in the first half. But when the third quarter rolled around, the NBA’s top power forward caught fire. He scored 10 points in the third quarter and 13 in the fourth as he spread out the Suns defense and gave them no chance to recover.

“They have the best power forward in the league. I mean Kevin Love is just a tremendous player and we can’t let him do all of these things on the floor,” Gortat said. “We have to make adjustments when he starts hitting threes and starts scoring and we didn’t do that. That is one of the reasons why we lost the game.”

While Love shot 5-for-9 from distance, Ellington, Beasley and Williams also combined to shoot 8-for-10 from the land of plenty and the once-stellar Suns defense had no answers.

“It’s been a while since we’ve had a team shoot 56 percent. I don’t even know if it’s happened this year. We can’t do that,” Gentry said. “I just thought altogether we just weren’t quite there as far as rotations. We were half a step late or we missed a rotation altogether and these guys are very good offensively.”

With the loss the Suns move to 19-22 on the season and missed a golden opportunity to move into a tie with Portland for 10th place in the Western Conference. Phoenix would have also been only one game behind eighth-place Houston in the loss column and percentage points behind Minnesota.

Instead, the Phoenix defense couldn’t sustain its play and the Suns find themselves in a must-win situation against 10th place Utah on Wednesday in US Airways Center.

“They played well enough to beat us today and we have to go back to the drawing board, come back on Wednesday and beat Utah,” said Dudley, who added that his 3-point attempt was the best look he had all game.

And 1

• The Suns’ bench held up its end of the bargain on Monday, scoring 35 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Although it took him 13 shots, Shannon Brown scored 11 points, grabbed five boards and dished out three assists. Markieff Morris also grabbed five rebounds in 20 minutes while Robin Lopez scored 10 points and hauled in three rebounds in 24 minutes. The most impressive of all was Sebastian Telfair, who scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, including a four-point play followed by a steal in the backcourt for a layup.
• The Suns lost for only the second time all season when Dudley leads the team in scoring. The team is now 6-2 in such situations. Monday was Dudley’s fifth 20-point game of the season and his sixth career scoring effort of 25 points or more.

A look at Minnesota without Rubio 

On Saturday the Timberwolves found out they lost their rookie phenom and floor general Ricky Rubio to a torn ACL. While the absence of Rubio’s offensive ability and passing prowess hurts Minnesota, Gentry said the Timberwolves will miss his defense as much as anything.

“That’s probably the thing that’s most underrated about him. He’s got great hands and he’s got great size,” Gentry said. “You’re talking about a 6-4 guy with a good wingspan, really, really quick hands. He’s done a lot for them. They will probably miss that as much as anything.”

Minnesota will also miss Rubio’s court vision, but Gentry said it makes the Timberwolves bigger and doesn’t change their offensive approach. Rick Adelman’s teams run their offense through the high post, and that won’t change without Rubio.

“They’re still going to play the same way,” Gentry said. “They run a lot of their high post with their bigs. Rick always does it that way. He did it with Vlade and Chris Webber and now with Kevin, Michael Beasley and Williams. What it does is take one point guard off the floor.”

Minnesota’s third point guard J.J. Barea, who’s been nursing an ankle injury, will suit up and play, according to Adelman. Barea will be limited, however.

Dudley’s improved play

Jared Dudley is averaging 18.0 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks while shooting 52.9 percent from the field and 38.1 percent from three over his last five games. But Gentry didn’t point to Dudley’s offensive play as his only contribution as of late.

“He’s made some shots and that always helps but he’s been pretty good defensively coming up with plays, that’s what I like about the way he’s playing right now,” Gentry said. “He always gets us a few extra possessions.”

Lopez better emotionally

Although to a lesser degree than Dudley, Robin Lopez is also one of the reasons the Suns are surging after the All-Star break. After a disappointing first half to the season Lopez is averaging 5.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 12.8 minutes over the course of his last five games. Gentry attributed Lopez’s improved play to a more emotionally stable mentality.

“I think he’s playing with confidence. I think he’s much more under control,” Gentry said. “Emotionally he’s been really good in games when things haven’t gone exactly right for him. Because of that I think he’s been able to make some plays.”

Gentry on his NCAA Tournament favorite: “If I were to fill mine out I still think that Kentucky is by far the best team. I don’t think that they’ll win but I still think they’re by far the best team. I would never count Michigan State out with Izzo.”

Gentry on Peyton Manning to the Cardinals talk: “I watched his jump shot when I was in New Orleans and after that I don’t really care. I watched he and Eli shoot baskets and I don’t think either one of them is going to help us so, I think it’s great but they can’t help us. His crossover is much to be desired, too.”

Timberwolves

Suns

The Phoenix Suns look to continue their surprising push for a playoff spot when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves Monday night.

For those of you living under a rock for the last 12 days, the Suns have won five of their six games since the All-Star break and are now just two games back of the eighth and final playoff spot. The Suns big push comes at a time when the other teams fighting to get into the postseason have begun to falter. One of those suddenly struggling teams is Minnesota.

Five days ago, the Timberwolves were riding high. After dropping their first game back after the All Star break to Phoenix 104-95, Minnesota rattled off three straight wins. This winning streak propelled them to two games over .500 and eighth place in the Western Conference standings. The T-Wolves’ ride lasted all of 48 hours. Toward the end of a close loss to the Lakers Friday night, star rookie point guard Ricky Rubio tore his ACL. Reports now say that Rubio will miss the rest of the season.

This is sad not just for Minnesota fans, but NBA fans in general. The Timberwolves were one of the feel good stories in the NBA this year, and Rubio was developing into the next Steve Nash (minus the shooting) with his passing and court vision. With the role of “Sentimental Favorite to Make the Playoffs” now open, the time has never been better for the Phoenix Suns.

Most people, myself included, wrote the Suns off after their loss to Oklahoma City Wednesday night. Wins against playoff contenders Dallas and Memphis have put Phoenix right back into the playoff hunt. A win tonight would put them into a tie for ninth at 20-21 just 1 1/2 games back of Houston. But the Suns must be careful not to overlook this Minnesota team. Just because they find themselves Rubio-less doesn’t mean they’ll lay down tonight without a fight.

Luke Ridnour is a professional point guard. He may not have had Rubio’s flash and virtuosity, but he does have experience and is playing on a well-coached team for the first time in several seasons. He recorded his first double-digit assist game of the season Saturday against the Hornets. The Wolves are not in incapable hands with him running the show.

Minnesota’s real strength this season has been its front court. The combination of Kevin Love and Nikola Pekovic are averaging a combined 38-21. Most of this production comes from Love, but Pekovic is really having a breakout year. He has topped 25 points in a game three times already this season. He is also coming off back-to-back games of 20+ points and 10+ rebounds. Pekovic and Marcin Gortat’s Eastern European showdown will be a great matchup of up-and-coming centers in the West.

“Who will match up against Kevin Love?” is the primary question facing coach Alvin Gentry in preparation for this game. Love is an undersized power forward, so there is the potential that Grant Hill could guard him for stretches. Conventional wisdom is that Love would simply take the smaller and older Hill down to the post and have a field day, but this article by Grantland’s Sebastian Pruiti suggests Love may not be as good with his back to the hoop as one might think.

Another defensive option would be to use the zone defense the Suns have employed several times over the last few games. The problem with using a zone is that is leaves shooters open from beyond the arc. Love is connecting on just over 36 percent of his shots from beyond the arc, but the Wolves as a team are no better from 3-point land than the Suns have been. Look for Phoenix to take the risk and use the zone for stretches.

The final defensive option is the combination of Channing Frye and reserve Markieff Morris. With as well as Kevin Love is playing at this point in the season, this combination for Phoenix really has no shot of keeping Love contained. Thus the Suns need to use the same game plan they did against the Minnesota last time around. Essentially, Kevin Love will get his, but the Suns’ team defense will keep everyone else on Minnesota’s roster contained. It worked for Phoenix 12 days ago and it worked for the Hornets on Saturday night. Kevin Love posted a 31 and 16 performance, but the Wolves still lost to cellar-dwelling New Orleans by six points.

For the Suns, the key to victory will once again be the battle of the boards. Minnesota might be the toughest test Phoenix has faced in some time as they rank third in the NBA in rebounds per game and seventh in rebounding efficiency, according to ESPN’s John Hollinger. The Suns absolutely trounced Memphis on the boards Saturday night (52-35). They will need another strong showing with contributions not just from Gortat and Frye, but from the entire roster. Against Memphis, seven Suns recorded at least five rebounds. That’s proof of a team commitment to blocking out and battling. If the Suns can control the glass against this T-Wolves team, they should win this game easily and continue this shocking push for the postseason.

And 1

If the Suns make the playoffs this year, it has to go down as one of Nash’s most impressive career achievements. This is by far the least talented team he has played with in a Phoenix uniform, yet they compete almost every night and Nash is having one of his best seasons from an efficiency standpoint since his back-to-back MVP years. I’m not claiming that Nash is putting the team on his back and willing them to victory night-in and night-out, but the case could be made that his play is elevating the play of everyone around him, namely Marcin Gortat and Jared Dudley.

Even with Markieff Morris seemingly hitting the rookie wall and Channing Frye having a terribly off year, the Suns are still, miraculously, in contention. Of course this could all be a distant memory if the Suns have a losing streak, but for now, Suns fans should simply bask in the joy that only Steve Nash can bring, snatching relevancy from the clutches of a forgotten season.

Channing Frye and the Suns' defense limited Kevin Love to 8-for-25 shooting and just 10 boards. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns’ shooting was red hot. Their defense strengthened as Thursday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves wore on. They even dominated the boards for the first three quarters against a team with more length on the wings and beef on the interior than you could shake a extra-long beefstick at.

But it didn’t make things easy when the Suns turned the ball over 15 times by the end of the third, nor when they didn’t do anything to force the young Timberwolves into mistakes of their own. That changed in the fourth, when Minnesota turned it over five more times and the Suns outscored the upstart T-Wolves 27-21 to punch in a 104-95 victory in US Airways Center.

By the end of the night, the Suns had won the rebounding battle to the tune of 44-37 in a game that got gritty down the stretch. The mix of Channing Frye, Markieff Morris, Marcin Gortat and Robin Lopez kept the NBA’s second-leading rebounder, Kevin Love, frustrated throughout as he finished with a below-average 10 boards.

“I thought they did a good job of banging and that’s what they are — (Nikola) Pekovic and Love, that’s what they love to do is bang in there,” Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. “I thought Marsh (Gortat), and Robin and Channing and Markieff did a good job of banging back and trying to hold their ground with those guys.

“We also did a good job of stepping out and making contact before we went to rebound the basketball,” Gentry added. “So when we did, when they pushed us, there were some (foul) calls made that helped.”

Gortat added 17 points and Steve Nash put up 17 assists to lead Phoenix, but it was Grant Hill’s second half, 15-point explosion that made the difference offensively. Cross-matched against co-point guard Luke Ridnour, who started alongside point guard Ricky Rubio, Gentry called Hill’s number in the second half, helping the 39-year-old finish with a team-high 20 points.

“With him guarding Ridnour and then us in transition, it was hard for them to get back and for them to match up,” Gentry said. “We were going to try to see if we could post the ball and create double teams. I thought Grant did a good job of reading the situation and shooting over the top.”

The Timberwolves came out slow on their third game in three nights, while the Suns came out cold following a week off. Neither squad could take advantage of first quarter miscues as the Timberwolves led just 23-22 despite 55-plus shooting percentages from both teams.

After the teams turned the ball a combined 13 times in the first quarter, Minnesota only recorded a single mishap in the next two to lead for most of the way despite Phoenix’s 56.9 percentage shooting through three quarters.

Minnesota opened up a 44-34 lead with 3:44 left in the first half and didn’t turn the ball over once in the second quarter, though Phoenix, behind its solid shooting, hung within five with a 51-46 deficit by halftime.

Meanwhile, Love and Pekovic put the Suns in a world of hurt as far as foul trouble was concerned. By halftime, Frye, Morris and Lopez had three fouls apiece, forcing formerly-pine riding power forward Hakim Warrick into eight minutes of action in the first half.

The quick whistles, however, helped Phoenix as the game wore on.

Hill said the Suns used it to their advantage, making sure to attack the Timberwolves in the tightly-officiated game that saw 53 combined free throws and 47 personal fouls called. Before it was over, both Love and Rubio and thrown their arms up several times on iffy foul calls.

“When officials are calling it close, you can’t be physical,” Hill said. “The thing that was happening was they were calling it against us, but you know, we got to take advantage of that, too. Attack, get to the basket. Once we did adjust and adapted, we just came out and had good energy.”

Hill, especially, took advantage, leading Phoenix back from its 10-point deficit.

Having led only once through the first 34 minutes of the game, Phoenix climbed back to take a 73-72 lead on a fast break dunk from Shannon Brown and went on to lead 77-74 before the final stanza.

“It just got out of control and the wheels came off,” Love said of the third quarter. “Third game in three nights for all these guys and for me being sick, I just think we had tired legs down the stretch and it caught up to us. They hit big shots and had some calls go their way, and that’s what ultimately decided the game because it came down to the last six minutes and that was really it.”

Much of the successful run to mount a Suns comeback — and to create a cushion in the fourth — was executed by the bench. They ended the evening with 28 points to help out the five starters, all of whom finished with double-digit scoring.

Brown scored 12 on 6-for-11 shooting, while Lopez recorded six boards and two blocks while he and Morris made the most of their nine combined personal fouls on the defensive end.

As a team, the Suns held the Timberwolves to 39.5 percent shooting and hit 53.2 percent themselves.

Gentry was especially pleased about the rebounding margin against Rick Adelman’s physical team. Even giving up 16 second-chance points, he said, wasn’t so bad considering the second-chance defense (5-of-13 shooting for Minnesota) wasn’t too shabby either.

But of course the Suns still sit at 15-20, well out of the playoff race. The hard-fought victory came with a warning from the Suns’ two-time MVP and captain.

“Hopefully we take this win and keep building on it,” Nash said. “We definitely have to keep improving but while we do that, we have to put some wins together. We have to make up some ground here.”

Timberwolves

Suns

PHOENIX — Two weeks. That’s all the Phoenix Suns have until the March 15 trade deadline, when it’ll be perfectly clear if Steve Nash is still on the roster and almost abundantly clear whether this team has any magic potions in its cabinet to make a run at the playoffs.

A week’s worth of rest and two detail-oriented practices during the All-Star break might help, but with the Minnesota Timberwolves on deck tonight in US Airways Center, there’s nothing left to look forward to.

This season is to be played in the now — there are no breaks left and only a trade deadline to worry about before, like counting sheep, the ping pong balls start bouncing through the Suns’ dreams.

“I think we know we don’t have any margin for error,” head coach Alvin Gentry said. “Where we are and where we’re ranked, we have to come out right away playing well. We don’t have four or five games where we can test where we are.

“It’s going to be a challenge,” he added. “We have a lot of good teams coming in here to play now … a lot of Western Conference teams.”

Coming into the season, Suns owner Robert Sarver and Timberwolves general manager David Kahn might’ve been labeled as two of the biggest baffoons of the NBA. But the media gets off your rump if you’re winning, and the young Minnesota squad led by coach Rick Adelman is doing just that, standing ahead of Phoenix at 18-18 on the season.

All-Star forward Kevin Love has led the charge with 24.5 points and 13.8 rebounds per game, but he’s questionable tonight. The fourth-year player out of UCLA is banged up with injuries to his ribs and back, and he missed last night’s 19-point loss to the Los Angeles Lakers due to illness.

Even without Love, Adelman has plenty of options to replace his star forward. Rookie Derrick Williams started in place of Love last night, following up his career-high night of 27 point scored against the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday. Though they might be shot-chuckers, Michael Beasley and Anthony Randolph round out the other tough matchups for the Suns on the interior, and that’s not to mention starting center Nikola Pekovic, who’s quietly having a killer year in his second NBA season with 12.4-point and 7.1-rebound averages (while putting on great promotional videos).

But the most intriguing matchup? That belongs to Nash and rookie counterpart Ricky Rubio, two players strikingly similar and the closest you might get to seeing the epitome of a true point guard.

And for the Suns, the meaning of tonight’s game goes beyond playing a beatable ballclub. Remember, as of now that .500 Timberwolves team is just one of many threats to take the No. 8 seed in the playoffs. Coming off two solid practice days where Nash said the team had time to “clear some things up and kind of improve on some of the slippage we had (earlier in the year),” it’ll be a good litmus test for any small hope remaining for Phoenix to make a run.

“We’re not going to get to practice a lot,” Nash said on Tuesday. “We have to continue to communicate and learn at shootarounds and at film sessions and keep on getting better.”

Now we get to see if that’ll amount to anything.

Three keys for Phoenix

Force the Timberwolves into jumpers. Just like they did to the young Washington Wizards, Phoenix could get the Timberwolves out of sync by baiting them into jump shots. Minnesota shoots only 32.5 percent from long range as a team with Beasley being the only consistent threat. Gentry could mix in some zone defense to get the 10th highest-scoring team in the league out of rhythm. Collapsing quickly on defense will also limit Minnesota’s athleticism and size in the frontcourt.

Fix the rotations on defense. The Suns won’t get by on defense by playing on islands; they’re not athletic enough to force turnovers that way. Especially against smart post passers like Love — if he plays — Phoenix must be ready to make the proper rotations when traps arrive and the ball is kicked back out. As long as a defender arrives on time, a contested jumper would be ideal rather than letting Love score at will in the paint. Considering they’ve had time to practice the last few days, the defensive rotations should theoretically be shored up for tonight’s game.

Jump on them from the tip and/or get bench production. Word has it that the T-Wolves are having trouble scoring with their starting lineup. That’s what got them into trouble two games ago, when they fell behind to the Clippers only to come back behind 72 bench points. We’ve seen this problem for the Suns before, most notably against the Houston Rockets. Well, Phoenix either needs to build a lead with its starters or get more than scraps from its bench if it hopes to start the second half of the season off on the right foot.

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.