ANAHEIM, Calif. >> For the first three innings of Sunday’s game, the Twins’ offense was held quiet. While that might have been a cause for concern earlier this season, these days, it’s impossible to keep Minnesota down for too long.

The suddenly surging Twins offense broke out in the middle innings of Sunday’s game on the way to the team’s major league-leading seventh straight win. With a11-5 win against the Los Angeles Angels, Minnesota finished a second-straight series sweep and is now over .500 at 14-13.

For the second straight day, the Twins scored double-digit runs and collected 17 hits. Four different players — Ryan Jeffers, Jose Miranda, Christian Vázquez and Willi Castro — finished with three hits apiece.

Miranda, who hit a pair of doubles, drove in the Twins’ first run of the day in the fourth inning, bringing home Byron Buxton, who reached on an Angels’ error, one of three on the day for Los Angeles.

An inning later, the Twins broke through against Angels starter Reid Detmers when rookie Austin Martin capped off a seven-pitch at-bat that saw him go from down 0-2 to working the count full before singling in two runs. Two more runs scored in the inning, giving the Twins a healthy cushion.

It was needed because things came crashing down around Twins starter Pablo López. López, who saw his velocity dip a couple miles per hour in his last start, erased concerns about that by averaging 96.4 mph on his four-seam fastball. He struck out six of the first nine batters he faced and retired 14 straight before he ran into trouble.

With two outs in the fifth, a Logan O’Hoppe double marked the first Angels baserunner of the day against López. Jo Adell followed with a double of his own and the next two batters, Luis Rengifo and Nolan Schanuel, homered. The laborious inning brought the Angels (10-18) back within a run and ended the starter’s day.

Though the game became close briefly, Minnesota was able to tack on late. The Twins were 1 for 19 on the season with the bases loaded before Alex Kirilloff’s pinch-hit, ground-rule double in the seventh inning broke things open once more, pushing Minnesota’s lead back to three runs.

The Twins added another pair of runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth to put the game out of reach and send them back to the Midwest as winners of seven straight.

Phoenix’s lack of a traditional point guard in this series has seemingly played a role in the Suns’ demise.

Minnesota’s defensive pressure has the Suns in a constant state of disarray. And there’s no natural floor general to restore order. Bradley Beal and Devin Booker are generally tasked with getting Phoenix into its offense. But that’s proving taxing for two of the Suns’ three star players, as they’ve consistently been harassed by the likes of Jaden McDaniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Every inch of space on the court is earned.

Those matchups played a role in Minnesota wearing down the Suns by the second half of each of the first three contests heading into Sunday evening’s Game 4.

Yes, Phoenix probably could’ve used a point guard. But the lack of one is becoming a familiar sight around the NBA. Teams are passing up on floor generals in exchange for additional size and length.

“They play the more modern style of basketball. A lot of teams are going towards the five guys that can all be around the same size, and they can all handle the ball and try to playmake,” Wolves point guard Mike Conley said. “There is advantages to having a point guard, I still think, to having a traditional one. There’s a lot of smaller guards out there that are really smart, high IQ basketball players who can really help the game.”

Conley is evidence of that. His arrival in Minnesota at last year’s trade deadline stabilized the Timberwolves’ ship. He’s masterfully run a team that features a lot of mouths to feed and is a go-to option to get Minnesota into actions at important junctures.

The Timberwolves have leaned into a point guard-heavy approach at times throughout the season, even playing a three-point guard lineup of Conley, Monte Morris and Jordan McLaughlin in the latter half of the season.

But the roles of McLaughlin and Morris have reduced as the team’s rotation tightened in the playoffs. So, Minnesota’s de facto backup point guard has been Alexander-Walker. Like Booker and Beal, Alexander-Walker is far more wing than floor general.

But the 25-year-old is quickly evolving into a dream-like hybrid between the two. On top of everything he’s done in the series — serving as both a lockdown perimeter defender and a 3-point sharpshooter — Alexander-Walker has also tallied 12 assists to just three turnovers through the first three games.

Not bad for a guy playing on-the-ball for the first time in his playoff career. That, Alexander-Walker noted, is what’s different for him this year versus last year’s series against Denver.

“Last year, I didn’t really play as on-ball. Trying to be a leader, get guys into spots, knowing the offense the way Mike does. I think that’s what we’re doing well this year,” Alexander-Walker said. “When Mike had those minutes out, we were able to sustain leads and get good offense and generate good looks.”

Conley joked he’s “the reason (Alexander-Walker) is who he is today.”

But, actually.

“It’s not too far off from the truth,” Alexander-Walker said.

Alexander-Walker noted he’s had a great mentor and role model in Conley, who he’s played with dating back to their time in Utah.

“(I’m) picking his brain all the time. What is he seeing? Trying to talk to him as much as I can when he’s on the bench just to see if he’s getting a different look or feel so I can get the offense going but also be myself,” Alexander-Walker said. “I’m not going to be Mike, but … I learn from him and how to get our flow and pace going.”

That’s part of Conley’s magic. It’s reading the game and the team and adapting his play accordingly. Conley fills so many gaps the moment they appear.

“He’s someone who doesn’t really want to shoot the ball a lot. He keeps people together. And then when it’s time, you really see another version of Mike that people are surprised by,” Alexander-Walker said. “I always tell him, they don’t know it’s by choice. Mike is choosing to play this way, because he has this view of the bigger picture. Ultimately, it’s helped me. From when I got there in Utah, just how my game changed, I was just a young, eager guy trying to score on every possession.”

Now, he can add “legitimate playmaker” to his resume.

“Whatever the game kind of needs, he has really delivered, whether it be shot-making, or attacking a close out or running the point and then guarding,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “It’s just been incredible.”

That’s Conley-like praise. Conley — who’s 36 years old — is currently cemented as Minnesota’s starting point guard. But there has been a question for awhile as to who his heir-apparent will be.

It may very well be his current mentee.

“Nickeil has been great. He’s been taking some of my moves. He’s learning a little bit. You see those little sidestep 3s he does in the corner, the reads he makes,” Conley said. “It’s stuff that he’s worked on. He’s been preparing himself for this for years. I’m sure he’s going to take over one day and do his thing.”

BRIEFLY

Finch finished third in NBA Coach of the Year voting. Oklahoma City’s Mark Daigneault won the award, while Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley finished second. Finch received one first-place vote.

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Will Reichard has long been known for his accuracy as a kicker. Not necessarily his power. Yet, when Alabama absolutely needed Reichard to come through from distance this year against Michigan in the Rose Bowl, he converted from 50 yards, then from 52 yards.

He always seems to be at his best when the lights are bright.

“It’s super important to be able to kick well in big-time pressure situations,” Reichard said. “That’s something that I take a lot of pride in.”

That should serve Reichard well as he steps into the pressure cooker that is being a kicker in Minnesota. He was selected by the Vikings in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft on Saturday largely because they believe he can handle it. That much was apparent to special teams coordinator Matt Daniels throughout the pre-draft process.

“All this guy has done is have success,” Daniels said. “He’s shown how consistent he can truly be.”

The numbers spoke for themselves. Reichard set an NCAA record at Alabama with career 547 points — 84 field goals and 295 extra points. He most recently went 22 for 25 on field goal attempts and 55 for 55 on extra point attempts.

As the Vikings studied tape on Reichard, it often felt like they were watching replays. Most of kicks looked the same, especially as they sailed through the uprights.

“In my personal evaluations, something I borrowed, is called net pattern,” college scout Steve Sabo said. “Where’s the ball hitting the net? You watch a lot of his kicks, and it’s center net, center net, center net.”

That’s a testament to Reichard and his attention to detail.

“The biggest thing that I appreciate within his game is how well he consistently strikes the ball,” Daniels said. “Never really does he have any miss hits. His balls always have good trajectory. He’s never had a field goal blocked, so that says a lot about the operation.”

Though the Vikings had a lot of interest in Reichard, they opted not to bring him for a private workout. Instead, they met with him on Zoom for a couple of hours, putting him on he spot with a bunch of different questions. How does he respond to certain situations? How does he like to be coached? How does he handle himself with his teammates?

“Those were the things that we wanted to dive into,” Daniels said. “Just truly kind of get to know the individual.”

Maybe the biggest thing the Vikings learned about Reichard throughout the draft process was his passion for his craft. He’s literally been preparing for this moment since he was about 8 years old.

“I grew up playing soccer,” Reichard said. “My dad decided that I needed to be a little bit tougher on the soccer field. So, I signed up for football, and when it came for kicking trials, I was the only soccer player on the team. I won the job and found out that I really loved it. Just kind of stuck with it and been training ever since.”

Now he’s here.

“It’s my lifelong dream to play in the NFL, and the Vikings have given me an opportunity to come in and compete,” Reichard said. “I’m super grateful for that.”

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