Wolves star Anthony Edwards finished with 36 points to lead Minnesota to a 3-0 lead over Phoenix.
PHOENIX — This basketball town was anticipating popping bottles this season. Instead, there is the unmistakable and cruel sound of a massive bubble bursting.
The Suns, built with a championship in mind, are down 3-0 in the first round. The Suns, who assembled a Big Three, a combination necessary to travel deep in the postseason, are shaping up as a Big Tease.
Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal are another bad night of basketball away from being swept away. It’s a disbelief that wasn’t lost on the home crowd in Game 3, which booed constantly in the third quarter Friday, then chanted for coach Frank Vogel’s job in the fourth.
Meanwhile, the Timberwolves — yes, we should mention them — are nearly out of breath, not just from their effort and energy spent in this series, but also from saying told-you-so’s to all the skeptics.
Here are five takeaways from Minnesota’s robust 126-109 victory in Game 3:
1. This was indeed a bad matchup … for Phoenix
The Suns beat the Wolves in all three meetings this season, won them all by double digits, confused and bewildered the Wolves’ top-ranked defense and claimed an emphatic win on the final day of the season.
A bad matchup for the Wolves, went the belief. And plenty fell for it, understandably so.
But once again the regular season tends to fool folks. In this series, the Suns are disadvantaged in terms of size against Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns and a rim-crashing Anthony Edwards. The Wolves outrebounded them an astonishing 50-28.
“They’re a bigger, stronger team than us,” said Suns coach Frank Vogel. “They killed us on the boards.”
Also: Their lack of a true point guard is glaring, they can’t roll up big points on this defense or stop Edwards when it matters.
Other than that, everything’s going swell for Phoenix.
The biggest issue in Game 3 was allowing the Wolves to score 126 points, 36 in a lopsided and decisive third quarter and 67 for the second half, which the Suns spent running uphill. With Minnesota’s defense, allowing that many points is deadly.
“They’re causing matchup problems for us,” Vogel admitted.
Which means the Suns must flip that disadvantage in time to rally from 0-3 to save face and a series.
“They say it’s never been done before,” Booker said. “That’s exciting.”
2. Wolves look like true title contenders
After leading the West for much of the season, they stumbled late and failed to secure the top seed. Oklahoma City took those honors. The Nuggets are defending champs, and the Celtics claimed the best record.
But after three games in the first round — the last two captured emphatically, and all three by double digits — maybe it’s time to elevate the Wolves in that company.
You can start with defense, obviously. The Wolves’ rotations and switches are superior, Gobert is owning the paint and they’re silencing the Suns’ shot creativity.
“We knew offensively it would be something of a challenge for us entering the season,” said Wolves coach Chris Finch, “but we were more advanced on the defensive side. That’s how we would win games.”
Plus, there’s Edwards, who served as a closer Friday, putting the Wolves on his shoulders once the Suns showed the slightest sign of a comeback run, with 18 points in the fourth.
3. Alexander-Walker goes on timely flurry
Nickeil Alexander-Walker has had an uneven young career, finding himself on his third team since being drafted in 2019. Until the third quarter Friday, he was better known as the cousin of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
And then for several minutes, the best of his career, Alexander-Walker stepped out — haunting the Suns with killer 3-pointers from the corner that completely changed the game.
He was 0-for-4 from deep in the first half, which is why the Suns left him open in the third … when he then went 4-for-5. A six-point halftime lead swelled to 22.
Remember, the Wolves got Alexander-Walker and Mike Conley for D’Angelo Russell. Who’s enjoying their first-round playoff series more?
4. Edwards owns the series
Anthony Edwards scores 36 points as Minnesota maintains its iron grip in its 1st-round series over Phoenix.
He shares the court with Durant and Booker and Beal, but not the designation as this series’ most impactful player. That’s Edwards’ and his alone.
The Suns have no answer for him, no resistance. When they double, he makes them pay by looking for teammates with his underrated passing — he had five assists. When they play him straight up, he punishes whoever’s in front of him — he finished with 36 points.
And he brings size to contribute to the Wolves’ overall height advantage; Edwards was active on the boards with nine rebounds.
Clearly, Edwards is enjoying the opportunity to prove himself, not only on the playoff stage but against one of the all-time greats in Durant. That’s what budding superstars do — they anxiously attack more accomplished players to enhance their own rising reputation.
There was no delicious trash-talking from Edwards to Durant in Game 3, not like in Game 2, when Edwards let loose after dropping a big shot. Getting the win was enough. And besides, the Footprint Center crowd let Durant and his teammates hear it instead.
Edwards isn’t accepting the torch from Durant — he’s snatching it.
5. Are teams passing Durant by?
It’s the same question being asked of LeBron James, who also finds himself down 3-0 in the first round.
These two legends, with a combined six championships, are being confronted with a wicked reality here on the back end of their careers. Both are still sharp — LeBron and Durant are likely to be named All-NBA — yet they’re no longer bringing the best team to the postseason.
In Durant’s case, he’s about to go six years without winning a title (he missed one year with an injury) after going back-to-back with the Warriors.
It’s a humbling first season for him with both Beal and Booker. And the Suns are pretty much locked into this trio for the near future. All three are max contract players who’ll make a combined $150 million over each of the next two seasons. Beal is signed through 2026-27, Booker through 2027-28.
And there are no first-round picks between 2025-2030, limiting their assets.
But, Durant, who shot 1-for-6 Friday in the third quarter, is the oldest of the three and therefore more on the clock.
As he surveys the West, he sees Minnesota, Denver and Oklahoma City as serious threats, and all three teams are either in their prime or still pushing toward it.
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Shaun Powell has covered the NBA for more than 25 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.
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