PHOENIX — Suns stars Devin Booker and Kevin Durant showed up in Game 4 on Friday in Phoenix, clearly determined to not get swept.
Booker poured in 49 points on 13 for 21 shooting. Durant had 33 points, nine rebounds and five assists. The Suns’ best players brought their best effort and delivered their best fight of the series.
And yet they were still knocked out by the best player on the floor over the last week. That was Anthony Edwards, who’s been brilliant all week, and saved his best for last.
The result?
The Timberwolves beat Phoenix 122-116 on Sunday to sweep the first-round playoff series in four games.
Edwards was spectacular in every sense Sunday, not only putting the Suns to bed, but tucking them in and reading them a bedtime story. He hit dagger shots, delivered a critical block to deter a Booker layup and threw down a thunderous slam that sent social media ablaze.
Each big play served as another dagger to Phoenix’s season. The decisive blow came with 20 seconds to play, when Edwards ran the length of the floor to put Minnesota up six.
Game, series.
Edwards scored 16 points in the final frame to secure Minnesota’s victory and deliver the team’s first sweep in franchise history. Edwards finished the game with 40 points, nine boards and six assists.
Minnesota advances to the Western Conference semifinals for the second time in franchise history, where it will meet the Lakers or Nuggets. The earliest that series can start is Saturday.
Timberwolves coach Chris Finch was injured in the final two minutes of the game, as Mike Conley crashed into the coach after he was fouled. Finch was down on the floor for awhile after suffering an apparent leg injury and had to be helped off the floor.
That was about the only hiccup for Minnesota down the stretch. The Wolves have struggled with late-game execution all season, sporting one of the worst clutch-time net ratings in the NBA post-Christmas.
But the plan Sunday was clear and and decisive — allow Edwards to control the game. That’s much easier done now that Edwards has grown such a knack for reading defenses and making the proper decisions.
It’s a near lock for Minnesota that, with the ball in Edwards’ hands, the Wolves will either generate an open look for someone or Edwards will impose his will.
The latter was often effective in Game 4. Edwards scored 29 points in the second half to bring Minnesota back from a five-point halftime deficit and close the Suns out.
Minnesota struggled to shoot in the first half. Karl-Anthony Towns hit all three of his 3-point tries over the first two quarters, while the rest of the Wolves went 1 for 17.
Minnesota found its stroke in the third quarter, though. The Wolves went 6 for 9 from deep in the frame in a major show of offensive burst behind Edwards’ excellence.
Still, Phoenix stuck with Minnesota, as the Wolves weren’t as sharp defensively as they’d been in prior contests throughout the series. Booker and Durant finally looked like All-Stars and found their way to the rim more often than Minnesota would’ve liked as Rudy Gobert struggled with foul trouble.
But, in the end, they were out-dueled.
At 22 years old, Anthony Edwards has now won a playoff series, and he’s in search for more.
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