Minnesota Timberwolves lose to Phoenix Suns: 3 takeaways

The Minnesota Timberwolves lost to the Suns on the second half of their two-game series.

The Minnesota Timberwolves kept pace with the third-seeded Phoenix Suns for the first three quarters of their game on Friday night. In the fourth, the Suns pulled away as the final period of play progressed.

The Minnesota Timberwolves had lots of positives tonight, and in an already-lost season, that’s all you can hope for.

Takeaway #1 – Ricky Rubio has the capability to make the Timberwolves a better team.

When he’s playing at his best, Ricky Rubio is a downright good basketball player. When he’s able to stretch the floor and play capable defense, Rubio often looks like the best player on the floor.

Last season (ironically for the Suns), he shot 36 percent on threes and was an average starting point guard.

This year, he lost his shot, but in the few games he’s played well, it has tremendously helped the Timberwolves.

In his last six games, Rubio is averaging 13 points and 8 assists – much better than his season-long statistics, and it has really seemed as though he’s performed better than those stats suggest.

Takeaway #2 – Jaden McDaniels and Karl-Anthony Towns need to start together.

Karl-Anthony Towns is at his best when the Timberwolves have a floor spacer next to him, and Jaden McDaniels has shown flashes on both ends of the floor tonight. While McDaniels didn’t have his best game tonight, he was still better than the alternative forwards that the Timberwolves have.

Really, no one outside of Nowell, Towns, Rubio, and Edwards was able to get going tonight. The Suns played stifling defense, but hopefully we see more McDaniels/Towns minutes, regardless of if they start together.

Takeaway #3 – Jordan McLaughlin is missed.

Jordan McLaughlin is Minnesota’s best guard defender, and without him tonight, the Suns had four different guards score 10+ points. While he alone surely isn’t going to fix this, his defense helps, and his offense is good enough to warrant minutes, as well.

The Timberwolves don’t have another pure facilitator outside of Ricky Rubio currently, so McLaughlin’s minutes are very-much missed.

The Timberwolves play against Oklahoma City on Monday. Check back then for coverage!