Bradley Beal cooks T-Wolves, Suns flip turnover script: Takeaways from win for 6th seed

MINNEAPOLIS – Phoenix Suns achieved three things in Sunday’s 125-106 win at Minnesota before a sellout crowd of 18.024 at Target Center to end the 82-game regular season.

One, grab the sixth seed in the West to avoid the play-in. The Lakers helped them out by winning at New Orleans. The Suns and Pelicans have the same record, but Phoenix owns the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Two, sweep the season series over the Timberwolves, 3-0.

Three, send a message (56-26) that this first-round matchup is going to be challenging even though the T-Wolves, as a third seed, have home-court advantage.

The Suns (49-33) scored 133 points in the first matchup, held the T-Wolves to 87 points in the second one and scored 35 points off 24 Minnesota turnovers Sunday.

Phoenix has had an up-and-down season, but it finished 7-3 in its last 10 games facing, at the time, the NBA’s toughest remaining schedule. The Suns were 11^th in defensive rating during that stretch.

They’re still turnover-prone, have struggles guarding on the perimeter and can go from looking great to looking disastrous in a hiccup, but the wild win Friday at Sacramento may prove to be a real turning point for them if a deep playoff run ensues.

Then again, the T-Wolves could bounce Phoenix in six. That’s how wide the postseason range is for the Suns. This team could easily reach the finals or not make it past the first round.

Here are takeaways from Sunday’s win as the Suns ended the regular season on a three-game win streak. Game 1 is Saturday in Minneapolis.

Beal matchup nightmare for T-Wolves

Mike Conley tried. He really did, but Beal scorched him and the T-Wolves for a game-high 36 points, going 6-of-6 from 3. He added six rebounds and five assists to just one turnover, two steals and a blocked shot.

Oh yeah, Beal spent considerable time guarding Anthony Edwards, who scored just 13 points on only seven shot attempts, making 3.

Beal got to the rim and finished around Rudy Gobert, stayed aggressive, shot the catch-and-shoot 3 with confidence and should be right at the top of Minnesota’s playoff scouting report. The T-Wolves will make adjustments, but will that open it up for Devin Booker and Kevin Durant to go solar?

The other part of this is Beal has only played 53 games this season due to dealing with injuries. The guy has fresher legs. He’s already got that burst, bounce and shiftiness to his game. Looks even faster and more explosive now.

Oh, one more thing. Beal hasn’t been on this stage in a minute. Last postseason, 2021. Last time he advanced past the first round, 2017.

Beal is super excited about this, and that’s contagious for his teammates who have won championships like Durant or played in the finals like Booker. He’s still sacrificing his offense overall by playing the one and guarding the opponent’s top offensive player, but Beal is fully capable of a 30-piece at any time.

That’s scary even for Minnesota, the top defensive team in the league that hasn’t looked like it in two of the three games against the Suns.

Turnovers in their favor

The Suns will take committing 13 turnovers that lead to 15 points any day, especially two days after committing 19 turnovers that Sacramento converted into 22 points.

They were able to get up 86 shots Sunday, making 54.7% of them and going 16-of-29 from 3 to show that 50 3-point attempts aren’t necessary to win against one of the best teams in the league this season.

I can’t see Phoenix duplicating the number of turnovers it forced Sunday in 24 and scoring 35 points off them. The T-Wolves will be smarter with the ball, as Karl-Anthony Towns and Edwards each committed five turnovers. The Suns were not only aggressive on defense but smarter in their positions.

Plus, as Booker has said numerous times, the Suns were not only communicating, but communicating during dead ball or free throw situations.

It makes one wonder where this has been all season, but again, this is a favorable matchup for the Suns, who looked even better Sunday. T-Wolves coach Chris Finch will have his team’s undivided attention this week in practice as they prepare for the Suns in the playoffs.

They’ll be better starting Saturday, trust and believe that.

Can Suns expand rotation, adjust

Phoenix was without Eric Gordon, who sat out with a migraine. He provides 3-point shooting and experience, but this opened the door for Bol Bol to get some minutes.

Wasn’t bad. Four points and two rebounds but committed two turnovers in eight minutes.

Thaddeus Young saw action, too, when Jusuf Nurkic got in foul trouble. He had five points, but the veteran forward committed four fouls. The Suns were whistled for 24 fouls in large part to Gobert being a physical presence when Nurkic came out the game.

Nurkic can match Gobert physically. It’s a taller order for Eubanks and Young to do the same, but this could be a series coach Frank Vogel uses three bigs to match the T-Wolves. At one point, Young and Durant were in the game together, a move that keeps Durant from having to play the five in a small ball lineup.

Expect Gordon to be back in the rotation when ready to return. Royce O’Neale and Eubanks are solidified, but could Vogel play Eubanks and Young in shorter bursts and Bol get spot minutes?

Vogel will likely stick with the eight-man rotation of Gordon, O’Neale and Eubanks as he’s increasing the minutes for Durant (38 Sunday), Beal (38) and Booker (36).

Denver went to an eight-man rotation in its run to a championship last season. It’s championship proven, but having Bol and Young as options may very well come in handy in this series when considering the size the T-Wolves can put out there with Towns, Gobert and Naz Reid.

Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Beal cooks T-Wolves, Suns flip turnover script: Takeaways from win for 6th seed