Well, you never thought a team with Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal all healthy would be down 3-0 in a first-round series, but that is the position the Phoenix Suns find themselves in entering tonight’s Game 4 matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!In the teams’ first meeting in Phoenix in Game 3, the Timberwolves blew out the Suns 126-109 on Friday.
There is not much to say about the Suns’ chances tonight given that not a single team has come back from a 3-0 deficit (0-152 all-time). The biggest news surrounding the team at this point is what they will do heading into the offseason. If the Suns are swept, there are going to be plenty of questions about the future of the team.
Should Frank Vogel be fired? Should James Jones be fired? Should the Suns trade away one of Booker, Beal or Durant? How much more can you give Booker to win with? Who is the fall guy for all of this? Do the Suns just enter complete rebuild mode?
These are all realistic questions given what the Suns have given up to build their team around the Big 3.
Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant will earn $150M next season.
The salary of the three players is more than 14 teams total payroll in 2024-25.
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) April 27, 2024
Phoenix has virtually no assets, having traded or swapped all of their first-round picks until 2030. They only own one second-round pick in this timeframe: a 2028 pick from the Boston Celtics (protected 31-45).
Given all of these looming questions, it is hard to break down this specific game because the Suns have not shown in any way that they are capable of beating the Timberwolves in a playoff game. In Games 1 and 3, they were outrebounded by the Timberwolves 102-56 over both games (52-28 in Game 1 and 50-28 in Game 3). In Game 2, the Timberwolves had 31 points off turnovers compared to 2 for the Suns.
In all three games, the Timberwolves have run away with the game in the third quarter and cruised to victory from there. The Suns have been outscored 95-61 in third quarters this series and haven’t scored more than 21 points in the quarter.
The 22-year-old Anthony Edwards is averaging 28 points on 49/37/91 splits, 7.7 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 2.3 steals in the first three games of the series. He has been the best player on the court over Booker, Beal and Durant, as the Timberwolves have an offensive rating (points per 100 possessions) of 121.9, a defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) of 101.3 and net rating (point differential per 100 possessions) of 20.7 with Edwards on the floor (117 minutes).
The Suns, meanwhile, have an offensive rating of 101.5, defensive rating of 120.3, making a net rating of -18.8 with the Big 3 all on the floor (98 minutes).
As they did all season, the Suns have shown to be good in spurts, but are not good at all the rest of the game, and that has costed them every single game so far.
Suns Still Believe
Despite the seemingly inevitable end to the season, that may not be tonight, but in one of the next few games, the Suns still have belief in themselves. Here’s what a few players and coach Vogel have said over the past two days:
Bradley Beal: “I’ve never been swept a day in my life, so I’d be damned if that happens. (Game 4) is gonna be a tough a– game, and I’m sure that’s going to be in the back of their mind. That’s something that they want to go out and get done. I’ve been in a 3-0 situation, and you just want to put that team to bed, so they’re gonna come out playing their best basketball on Sunday, and we got to make sure that we match their intensity, if not better, and be prepared to win the game.”
Devin Booker: “I’m the type to just focus on the next game, play-by-play, possession-by-possession. They say nobody’s ever done it before. That’s exciting … I remember going down to the bubble, and it was the same thing we had to win eight to even have a chance, and you just break them down. They all have their own personality, and you can only focus on one at a time.”
Kevin Durant: “Just stay strong, mentally stay strong. Look forward. Just have that mentality (of) keep fighting.”
Frank Vogel: “We don’t like where we’re at, but we do have an opportunity to do something that’s never been done. That’s something that we’re gonna embrace. We don’t have to win four games, we have to win (Game 4), and that’s where our focus is.”
Eric Gordon: “Naturally, (going down 3-0) is always tough for any team. But if you want to pick any team to make a comeback, it would have to be us. With the firepower we have, when chemistry’s going right, when things are going right, then we’re a pretty deadly team. We just haven’t had the chance to do so.”
“I’d be damned if that happens”
“They say nobody’s ever done it before. That’s exciting”
Bradley Beal and Devin Booker on trying to avoid getting swept 🧹 #Suns pic.twitter.com/IgNLBbwwSI
— Burn City Suns Talk 🎙️ (@BurnCitySuns) April 27, 2024
On the flip side, Anthony Edwards is ready to remain focused and compete even with being up 3-0.
“We don’t think we broke their spirit until we win Game 4,” Edwards said after Game 3. “We got to win Game 4, and then we can say we broke their spirit. Because you never know, man, a lot of crazy things happen, so we got to come out and be the most desperate team once again. We can’t think that they’re gonna give us the game because they down 3-0, they want to win a game, they don’t want to go out and get swept.
“We got to come out and be ready to compete at a high level, even more than we did in the first three games, and we gonna be ready.”
Game 4 Information
Start Time: 6:30 p.m. MST
Location: Footprint Center
TV Channel: AZ Family/3TV, TNT
Radio: Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, La Mejor 106.5 FM
Stream: Suns Live (click for more info)
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) April 28, 2024
Full Series Schedule/Results
- Game 1: Wolves 120 – Suns 95
- Game 2: Wolves 105 – Suns 93
- Game 3: Wolves 126 – Suns 109
- Game 4: Wolves at Suns, today, April 28, 6:30 p.m., on AZ Family/3TV, TNT
- Game 5*: Suns at Wolves, Tuesday, April 30, TBD, on TBD
- Game 6*: Wolves at Suns, Thursday, May 2, TBD, on TBD
- Game 7* Suns at Wolves, Saturday, May 4, TBD, on TNT
*if necessary
Previous Results from the Regular-Season Series
- Suns 133 – Timberwolves 115 on Nov. 15 in Phoenix
- Suns 97 – Timberwolves 87 on April 5 in Phoenix
- Suns 125 – Timberwolves 106 on April 14 in Minnesota
Game 4 Betting Odds
Line: PHX -1.5
O/U: 213.5
Injury Report
Phoenix Suns: Grayson Allen (right ankle sprain) QUESTIONABLE | Damion Lee (right meniscus surgery) OUT
Minnesota Timberwolves: Kyle Anderson (right hip pointer) QUESTIONABLE
Starters (Projected)
Phoenix Suns: Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, Grayson Allen/Royce O’Neale, Kevin Durant, Jusuf Nurkić
Minnesota Timberwolves: Mike Conley, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Karl Anthony-Towns, Rudy Gobert
Game 4 Prediction
Timberwolves 115 – Suns 101
The Suns have not shown that they can beat the Timberwolves at all and that did not change at home last game. They might be able to pull one out tonight if the Timberwolves come out loose due to being up 3-0, but their physicality and strength has been way too much for the Suns to overcome. No game has even been close, so I predict the Suns to continue this trend and lose with a lot of looming questions surrounding them heading into the offseason.
Stories from Game 3/Other Previews
Suns fans chant ‘Fire Vogel’ during Game 3 loss to Timberwolves
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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
