Suns beat T-Wolves
PHOENIX — Devin Booker scored 26 points, Kelly Oubre Jr. added 24 on his 24th birthday and the Phoenix Suns rolled to a 125-109 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night.
Oubre shot 8 of 15 from the field and made all six free throws, while Ricky Rubio finished with 16 points and 14 assists. The Suns won at home for the first time since Nov. 14, snapping a fourgame losing streak at Talking Stick Resort Arena.
Dario Saric added 20 points for Phoenix. Rubio has had at least 13 assists in three straight games.
Minnesota lost its fifth in a row. The Timberwolves were led by Karl Anthony-Towns, who scored 33 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. He shot 12 of 18 from the field.
Andrew Wiggins added 23 points and Jeff Teague had 16 off the bench.
Phoenix trailed by three at halftime but rallied for a 94-85 advantage at the end of the third quarter. The Suns pushed that margin to 12 early in the fourth after Rubio’s 3-pointer.
The Timberwolves made a few small runs in the final period but could never get the deficit under seven. Rubio hit another 3 with 4:26 left to push the Suns ahead 111-98, and they cruised in the final minutes.
Towns had 21 points and eight rebounds in the first half as the Timberwolves took a 64-61 halftime lead. Oubre and Saric both scored 13 for the Suns.
TIP-INS
Timberwolves: F Jake Layman (toe sprain) missed his ninth straight game. ... Towns scored at least 30 points against the Suns for the fourth time in his fiveyear career. The 33 points were a career high for him in the series.
Suns: C Aron Baynes returned after missing nine of the past 10 games because of hip and calf injuries. Baynes has been productive when healthy this season, averaging 14.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. He played 15 minutes on Monday, finishing with 12 points and four rebounds . ... The Suns are 11-0 when leading after three quarters.
UP NEXT
The Suns host the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday.