Heartbreak Hotel! Suns lose on Buzzer-Beater to Wolves.

What.         A.         Game.

There is no arguing now that this season the Minnesota Timberwolves have the Phoenix Suns’ number as the Suns lose a heartbreaker on an Andrew Wiggins’ shot at the buzzer to beat the Suns and end their chances at winning their third game in a row – a feat they have not accomplished in 435 days (November 12, 14, 16, 2015).

Midway through the second quarter Phoenix found themselves up by eleven and at that moment it appeared they were in complete control of the game. Tyson Chandler was having a great game already (more on him later) Eric Bledsoe was playing like an All-Star (more on him later as well) and Tom Thibodeau was screaming so loud Eddie Johnson actually commented that the Timberwolve players needed to tune him out (sounds like a match made in heaven, doesn’t it?)

Live Feed

Sir Charles In Charge

The Wolves quickly stormed back and before you could say “the Suns are making a push for the playoffs,” the quarter was over and Minnesota held a 59-56 lead at half.

Minnesota stretched their lead to as many as 14 in the middle of the third quarter and Suns fan were undoubtedly remembering the crazy statistic that Phoenix is 10-6 against the East this season, and a paltry 5-23 against the West.

Slowly the Suns clawed back: Tyson Chandler was the back end of alley-oops more than any other game this season; Devin Booker was nailing three’s with reckless abandon; P.J. Tucker looked like he deserved a max contract extension just due to his defense; and before you knew it, the Suns had recaptured the lead with 7:00 left in the 4th.

But the young Wolves never lost their composure and fought back punch-for-punch never letting the Suns pull away. Minnesota recaptured the lead and for the remaining 7 minutes the two teams fought in what could only be explained as a playoff atmosphere in Talking Stick Resort Arena.

Following a Tyson Chandler reach-in foul on Andrew Wiggins who nailed the two free throws with 12.1 seconds remaining, the Suns came out of a timeout looking for a hero.

The unlikeliest of offensive heroes it seemed to be, P.J. Tucker was fouled under the basket with just over 6 seconds left and he too made both free throw attempts putting the Suns back up by one.

Unfortunately, if you were following reactions to the game on Twitter, the Suns left an awful lot of time left on the clock for Minnesota to find a good shot, and as luck would have it, Andrew Wiggins hit a buzzer-beating 17-foot jumper, over P.J. Tucker, to win the game.

Heartbreak Hotel.

Tyson Chandler had his second 20p and 15r game in the past five days (and third in two seasons for Phoenix) finishing with 22 points and 17 boards. He was a perfect 9-9 from the field, and I wish that I had actually counted the number of alley-oop jams he had because I am guessing that it was at least 5.

Alex Len played alongside Chandler for a good portion of the game and finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds on 4-5 from the floor. Combined the two centers finished with 23p/27r, 13-14 from the field and 7-8 from the free throw line.

Devin Booker led the Suns with 26 points, the 10th game in a row he has accomplished the feat, a career-high. The streak is the longest since Amar’e Stoudemire did so in 11 straight games from November 30 – December 25, 2008. Book was also 4-7 from beyond the arc tonight, the third game in a row he’s hit at least 3.

Eric Bledsoe finished with 18 points and 7 assists, although he also had 5 turnovers. Bledsoe couldn’t find the bottom of the hoop as he shot 5-18 from the field for 27.8%, his worst shooting game since November 11 against Brooklyn.

For the Timberwolves, six players finished in double-figure scoring led by Andrew Wigging who led all scorers with 31 points, his final two coming on that buzzer-beater. Wiggins grabbed six rebounds for good measure.

Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Ricky Rubio scored 14 and dished out 10 assists, a game-high.

Thoughts from the Valley of the Suns

Even in the loss, this was a great game. The Suns battled through a very difficult third quarter to take the lead late and only needed a missed jump shot against a smothering P.J. Tucker to win the game.

The great argument going on throughout the Valley of the Suns right now is whether or not the Suns should play for the future and continue to tank, or to play to win and make a run for the playoffs even if that means losing to the Golden State Warriors in four games.

More from Valley of the Suns

• Ranking the Phoenix Suns’ 5 holiday games in 2023-24
• Zion Williamson gets compared to Phoenix Suns legend
• Suns player preview: Bol Bol can be the perfect role player
• Former Suns’ guard shows he is officially done with Phoenix
• NBA insider guarantees Suns’ rival won’t make blockbuster trade

I am definitely torn on that as I want the superstar that they might draft if they get a top-three pick, but also am sick and tired of the losing and want to make the playoffs at the first possible moment.

This may not be the season that the Suns make in to the tournament, but boy, is this team so much fun to watch.

I am ultra serious, Valley of the Suns fans – if you are not watching every game this season, you are missing out. Even in a loss they played an exciting brand of play with a perfect combination of youth and veterans, all players that you can fall in love with as a fan, and ach seemingly playing at their peaks.

In fact, at this very moment I do not envy General Manager Ryan McDonough’s job because I am sure that in the next few weeks he is going to receive a few tempting and enticing offers for P.J. Tucker, Tyson Chandler, and maybe even Eric Bledsoe. I do not want to see a one of them moved, and if they do, I will be heart-sick at the loss.