You could feel it happening at some point in the third quarter Tuesday — a near carbon copy of Saturday’s occurrence — Phoenix submitted.

After fighting, scratching and clawing for 30 minutes to hang with the stronger, more physical Wolves, the Suns eventually toss in the towel. Such was the case in Game 2 on Tuesday, where Minnesota utilized a 10-0 run — a span in which the Suns were scoreless for four minutes — to turn a three-point deficit into a seven-point lead.

Minnesota led by six early in the fourth, before an 11-0 run essentially closed the contest as the Wolves pulled away for a 105-93 victory.

After a pair of blowout victories, Minnesota leads the series 2-0 with Game 3 scheduled for Friday for the first of a pair of weekend contests in Phoenix.

At this point, who knows if a Game 5 back at Target Center will be necessary.

A “Wolves in 4” chant

The Suns either can’t or won’t box Minnesota for 48 minutes, and it’s likely a combination of the two. After being routed in three regular-season bouts with Phoenix, the Wolves have turned the first two playoff games into a street fight.

And the Suns can only take so many punches.

Minnesota’s defensive physicality has clearly worn the Suns down. They make silly turnovers — 20 giveaways Tuesday led to 31 Minnesota points — and, by game’s end, they’re too tired to run in transition or compete on the defensive end.

The Wolves simply wear you out.

They do so with an army of talented players that runs as deep as any roster in the NBA. In Game 1, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Naz Reid and Anthony Edwards led the charge.

On Tuesday, Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert were brilliant in the first half while Minnesota struggled to find its way offensively. Conley had 14 of his 18 points in the first half.

Gobert tallied 18 points and nine rebounds. and the star of the night was Jaden McDaniels, the two-way wing who has struggled at times with his offense this season. But he was effectively aggressive Tuesday to the tune of 25 points and eight rebounds while hounding Phoenix’s star perimeter players on the other end.

Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Brad Beal all logged more than 40 minutes in what felt like a last-gasp effort for Phoenix. Frankly, they have to play big minutes given Phoenix’s thin rotation that lost a key contributor in the third quarter when Grayson Allen left with another ankle injury.

But Phoenix’s “Big 3” certainly don’t seem to fit that moniker at the moment. None of the three ever were able to truly take charge of the game. There was no rhythm established. The Suns played like a desperate team in the first half, like they knew they needed to win that game.

They stuck to their defensive principles. They were much more competitive on the glass. They ran a number of actions designed to get their best players some separation.

None of it mattered. Minnesota withstood it all. Beal, Durant and Booker all looked incredibly ordinary.

It doesn’t feel like the Wolves’ best game is required to beat Phoenix. Because as long as the Wolves play with the requisite effort and intensity they figure to deliver every time they step onto the floor for a playoff contest, they’ll simply outlast the Suns.

They have too much ammo for this fight. Too many bodies to send at you. Too much effort and physicality to contend with.

As a result, this fight is quickly devolving into a “no contest.”

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A Fridley used car dealership is under fire from the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office for allegedly misrepresenting the quality of vehicles it sold along with dishonest service contracts and high interest rates, according to a new lawsuit filed this week by Attorney General Keith Ellison.

The dealership, Midwest Car Search, and its owner, Scott Spiczka, were named in the lawsuit, which seeks to provide restitution for customers and to stop the alleged illegal business practices of the dealership.

“This is a long-term systematic pattern of deception targeting Minnesotans, often, but not always, with limited English language skills,” Ellison said at a Tuesday news conference at the state Capitol.

Spiczka and his business are accused of fraudulently selling more than 3,000 vehicles to Minnesotans from 2017 to 2022 that it claimed were certified. The lawsuit alleges the business illegally required customers to purchase service contracts up to $1,800. Those illegal contracts add up to about $4.5 million, according to the attorney general.

For a dealership to advertise a car as certified, the car must have been inspected for any deficiencies, must be sold with a warranty, and must not have sustained any damage that impairs safety, according to Minnesota statute. The investigation by Ellison’s office found that none of the 3,245 cars sold by Midwest Car Search were certified.

Henry Holmes, a man who purchased a vehicle from Midwest Car Search at a 22% interest rate, said he was told by the dealership that they would not be able to fix the myriad issues with the car, which included a bad exhaust manifold, exhaust gasket, tie rods and strut assemblies, despite Holmes purchasing a warranty from the dealer.

“I felt used, so I called the attorney general because I can’t see letting people get away with stuff like that and using the elderly people and the people that don’t understand what they are talking about,” Holmes, 77, of Minneapolis, said Tuesday.

The lawsuit is the attorney general’s first after the Legislature strengthened Minnesota’s Used Car Law last year, though the lawsuit targets the dealership’s business both before and after those changes.

The dealership is also accused of advertising in Spanish and presenting Spanish-speaking salespeople but giving people contracts in English to sign that did not represent the promises made during the negotiation.

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Had he been healthy, Brooks Lee likely would have debuted and seen plenty of action on the left side of the infield at this point of the season with both Carlos Correa and Royce Lewis nursing injuries. Instead, Lee is dealing with an injury of his own — one that will likely keep him out another month.

Initially called back spasms when he was removed from a spring training game in late March, the Twins revealed Tuesday that the top prospect’s injury has instead been diagnosed as a herniated disk in his back.

“I’d say he’s in the same midrange of what we heard is the return-to-play protocol,” president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said. “He’s almost a month into the first part of the problem. Then, the next month is building back into baseball. So you’re looking at that kind of timeline would be my guess.”

Lee is being treated by specialist Dr. Robert Watkins, and Falvey said he is in the middle of Watkins’ protocol for returning to play.
Lee has started doing very light baseball-type activity, Falvey said, taking light swings.

“With this, you’ve just got to get it taken care of on the front end and then make sure when you’re building him up, you’re building him up pretty slowly,” Falvey said.

It’s tough timing, especially because Lee, the No. 17 prospect in baseball per MLB Pipeline, is coming off an impressive spring at the plate. The Twins have been using a combination of Willi Castro and Kyle Farmer, both off to slow starts, at third base and shortstop with Jose Miranda mixing in at third base.

Rehabbing relievers

Jhoan Duran began a rehab assignment on Tuesday night in St. Paul, and Justin Topa is right on his heels. The two Twins relievers have been on the injured list all season, but both are almost ready to return,

Topa, who was dealing with patellar tendinitis in his left knee, threw around 20 pitches on Tuesday at Target Field. It was his first live batting practice — previously he had thrown two regular bullpens and one with Royce Lewis standing in, tracking pitches.

Next, he plans to head over to St. Paul and begin a rehab assignment Thursday. He expects to throw for the Saints on Sunday, too.

“I kind of lightly penciled in the L.A. series as kind of the goal to be back,” Topa said of the upcoming weekend series in Anaheim. “I think we kind of knew going into it, talking with the doc, talking with (head athletic trainer) Nick (Paparesta) and everybody, that was kind of the plan. Let’s give it some time to calm down for a couple weeks, build up after that, and I think we’re pretty much on track with what we initially thought it was.”

Briefly

— Starter Brent Headrick is on the minor league injured list with a forearm strain, and the Twins recently transferred him to the 60-day injured list in the minors. “It’s just going to take some time to build back up,” Falvey said.

— Matt Canterino, also on the minor league injured list with a shoulder injury, has started throwing between 40-60 feet.