On April 29, Beijing time, the Suns faced the Timberwolves at home, and in the case of falling behind 0-3, the Suns had no way out, and at this time, the Suns also reported the news of a change of coach. The Lakers have chased 1-3 to avoid being swept by the defending champions, and if the Suns lose, they will become the first team to be swept in the first round, and while there is little hope of advancing to the semifinals, Durant will certainly want to fight for dignity like James.
In the first quarter, both teams were not very efficient offensively, with the Suns temporarily leading by one point at 26-25, and the Timberwolves made too many free throws in the first quarter, making 14 of 15 free throws. In the second quarter, the Suns exploded on the offensive end, and since they couldn't prevent it, they didn't defend it, so they focused on the offensive end, blasting out 35-31 in a single quarter, and the Suns led by 5 points at halftime, and the performance was significantly better than the first 3 games. Durant scored 20 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in the second quarter, KD is really not easy, if he is swept he will be questioned hugely, Booker also cut 19 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, even if the performance is good enough, the point difference is still not big, enough to see how strong the Timberwolves are.
In the third quarter, the Suns withstood the Timberwolves' counterattack, and Gobert got his fourth foul early, putting the Timberwolves in a more difficult situation, but at the end of the third quarter, the Suns led by 2 points at 92-90, the difference was not very large, and the game was still in suspense. In the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves blasted out a 12-7 run to overtake the Suns in 5 minutes, and the Suns lost too many rebounds, and there was a big gap in internal strength. At the critical moment, Edwards of the Timberwolves went berserk and led the team to suppress the Suns with consecutive scores, while Beal made a mistake at a critical moment, and Edwards dunked Durant with an axe, scoring 10 points in a row.
But then there was an accident on the court, Timberwolves coach Finch was hit and left the court with a direct injury, and it seemed that the injury was still more serious. It is common for players to be injured on the field, but it is also relatively rare for a coach to return to the locker room with a sudden injury, and I hope that Coach Finch can recover as soon as possible and not affect the coaching of the semi-finals.
At the last moment, the Suns trailed by 6 points in less than 1 minute, and there was no suspense. In the end, the Timberwolves defeated the Suns 122-116 and swept the opponent 4-0 to reach the semifinals. The Suns' 23-24 season is over, and it's a big failure.
The Suns' Durant chipped in 33 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 blocks, and did his best on both offensive and defensive ends, Booker had 49 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists, Beal had 9 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists and 6 turnovers, Nurkic had 9 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists, and O'Neal had 6 points, 6 rebounds and 1 assist. For the Timberwolves, Edwards had 40 points, nine rebounds and six assists, Towns had 28 points and 10 rebounds, and McDaniels had 18 points and three rebounds.
The Suns were swept out of the tournament 4-0, becoming the first team to be swept this year and the first team to be eliminated. In this way, after the Suns enter the offseason, the core lineup will definitely change greatly, Durant and Booker will definitely stay with the team, Beal is likely to be traded, and it is difficult for Vogel to continue to coach, such a luxurious lineup has not won a single game in the playoffs, it is really unreasonable, relatively speaking, the Lakers' Ham is okay, at least the Lakers have not been swept, and there is hope for a reversal.