Grant Hill drops 20 as Phoenix Suns trounce Minnesota Timberwolves 104-95 - NBA Recap
On Thursday night, Phoenix Suns stepped onto the US Airways Center to play their 1st game since the All-Star weekend and trounced Minnesota Timberwolves, 104-95 by using a strong second half.
Suns had 6 players in double figures, led by Grant Hill with 20 points. He was lavished with praise from Steve Nash who recorded a double-double with 13 points and 17 assists.
"He's a beauty. We needed every bit of him tonight."
Marcin Gortat netted 17; Channing Frye had 14 while Shannon Brown and Jared Dudley shared 12 apiece as Phoenix banked their 15th victory of the season.
Wolves were playing their 3rd straight game in 3 nights coming off the All-Star break and clearly looked fatigued. Despite the fact they gathered momentum in the opening half; they were worn down later on by Phoenix.
Grant Hill with concurred that after the game.
"We said, 'Let's keep our composure. They played the last two nights.”
Kevin Love, who missed the last game with flu-like symptoms, ended with a game high 23 points and 10 boards and the other big Luke Ridnour tallied 15. Nikola Pekovic had 14 points and 9 rebounds while rookie Ricky Rubio chipped in with 13 points as T’Wolves skidded down to a 2 losses in a row.
With a jumper from Rubio Minnesota reeled off a 17-10 run early in the 1st frame and claimed a 21-16 lead. Phoenix however reduced the gap with a 6-2 run and by the end of opening frame T’Wolves were leading with just a 23-22 advantage.
With another 8-2 run Minnesota stretched their lead to 31-24 in 2nd stanza but Suns rebutted that with 7 unanswered points and tied the score at 31 each with 7:55 in hand. Minnesota broke out of the stalemate with a bang as they pulled off an 11-2 run deep through the piece claiming a 42-33 advantage and capped of the segment at 51-46.
Phoenix managed to reduce the gap to 59-56 early in the 3rd frame and after some back and forth action, the scores reached at 70-64 with T’Wolves still in the lead. The Suns shifted gears after that and raced to a 13-2 run, taking a 77-72 lead enroute to a 77-74 advantage at the close of the third.
The Wolves closed within two early but with 08:41 left, Brown netted a jumper that intrigued a 9-0 run and propelled the Suns to a 90-79.
T’Wolves bounced back with a 6-1 burst and shaved off the deficit to 91-85, but Phoenix shot the lights out with a decisive 13-6 run which sealed the game.
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