Chris Paul collected 21 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds as the Phoenix Suns held on to beat the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves 134-124 on Friday night for their ninth consecutive win.
Phoenix's Devin Booker led all scorers with 29 points to go along with nine assists. Cameron Johnson contributed 23 points, hitting 5 of 9 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc.
Anthony Edwards recorded 27 points and 10 assists for Minnesota, which lost for the second time in as many nights. Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 23 points and nine boards, and Malik Beasley chipped in 26 points off the bench.
Player of the Game | |
EFF
37
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Chris Paul | |
Points | 21 |
Accuracy | 5-9 |
Rebounds | 10 |
Assists | 14 |
The Timberwolves, who trailed by 12 points late in the third quarter, closed within 112-108 after Edwards made a jump shot with 6:48 to play.
Phoenix responded with a 14-5 run to go up by 13 with 4:11 left. Mikal Bridges made a layup to cap the run.
Minnesota cut the deficit down to 129-124 in the final minute but could not get any closer.
The Suns led 100-93 at the end of the third quarter. A 3-pointer by Phoenix's Landry Shamet increased the advantage to 100-88 with 1:14 remaining in the period. However, Minnesota scored the final five points just before the buzzer on a three-point play by Jordan McLaughlin and a floating jump shot by Edwards after a Suns turnover.
Phoenix held a 74-66 lead heading into halftime.
A floating jump shot by McLaughlin evened the score at 66-66 with 2:07 left in the first half. Towns assisted on the shot, which came less than a minute after he assisted on a 3-pointer by Beasley.
After the Timberwolves pulled even, the Suns closed the half on an 8-0 run. Bridges initiated the surge with a 3-pointer, and Paul capped it off with another 3-pointer followed by a pair of free throws.
The Suns led 40-32 at the end of the first quarter. Booker made a 3-pointer and Shamet contributed a trio of free throws during the final minute to push the lead to eight.