Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves march past Suns in playoff opener

MINNEAPOLIS — For a week, the Timberwolves heard the talk that the Suns were a bad match for them in the first round of the playoffs.

For a week, the Wolves had a chance to devise counters to the weaknesses Phoenix exploited in their three regular-season matchups.

The Wolves had an answer for all of the above in a resounding 120-95 Game 1 victory over Phoenix on Saturday at Target Center.

Anthony Edwards, who had averaged just over 14 points against Phoenix this season, exploded for 33 points, including 18 in a third quarter that the Wolves grabbed hold of the game and didn't let go.

Edwards did a fair share of his damage against childhood hero Kevin Durant, and he seemed to relish letting Durant know about it a few times while he was on his heater. Edwards capped the game with a steal off Durant for a breakaway dunk with 3 minutes, 37 seconds to play.

"We need to take our game to another level," Wolves coach Chris Finch said. "We had to play desperate basketball, with a chip on our shoulder, like we did early in the season when we were trying to establish ourselves."

The Wolves' physical defense made life difficult for the Suns, who had trouble scoring outside of Durant (31 points). The Wolves took out Grayson Allen, who was just 0 for 3 while limiting Devin Booker to 5-for-16 shooting and 18 points. The Wolves held the Suns without a field goal for the last 7:03 of the third quarter.

They also got key contributions off their bench from Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who shined on both ends of the floor, with 18 points and four steals. Naz Reid finished with 12 points, including five points in a final early fourth-quarter push.

"I love their aggressiveness. I thought, defensively, Naz was great off the glass as well. He really battled," Finch said.

The Wolves used size to their advantage with a 20-6 edge in second-chance points as Rudy Gobert had 14 points and 16 rebounds.

Durant was the Suns' only standout.

"KD is such an unbelievable player, such a tough cover," Finch said. "We wanted to put as much size on him as possible. Shot were tough, but he made them."