Julius Randle was not going to let this sport go to additional time. As an alternative, the Minnesota Timberwolves ahead despatched the Phoenix Suns’ Josh Okogie falling backwards and drilled a buzzer-beater that despatched the Goal Middle right into a frenzy.
Randle scored 3 factors as time expired Sunday afternoon to propel Timberwolves to 120-117 win over Phoenix in Minneapolis. After catching an inside move with lower than three seconds left, Randle raced previous Okogie — who crossed over a bit on the prime of the arc and fell again — and sank his bucket again earlier than sprinting towards the tip reverse. of the court docket.
He completed with a team-high 35 factors and 7 assists. His last bucket was his fifth 3-pointer of the afternoon. Randle is in his first season with the Timberwolves this fall after being traded there in a deal that despatched star Karl-Anthony Cities to the New York Knicks in October.
Randle, 29, is within the third yr of a four-year, $117 million contract. He averaged 24 factors and 9.2 rebounds final season with the Knicks whereas incomes his third All-Star nomination and serving to the group attain the Jap Convention semifinals for a second straight season.
The Suns led many of the day on Sunday. They took a 10-point lead into the locker room at halftime, then put collectively an extended stretch the place they held the Timberwolves with no subject aim for practically 4 full minutes halfway via the fourth quarter. However, after a four-point play by Randle minimize the Suns’ result in 5 factors, Minnesota completed the sport on a 13-5 rating to assert the three-point victory.
Devin Booker led the Suns with 44 factors, seven assists and 6 rebounds. He went 6 of 13 from behind the arc. Grayson Allen added 18 factors coming off the bench and Tyus Jones completed with 13 factors and 11 assists.
The Suns are nonetheless with out star Kevin Durant, who has a calf harm. Okogie began instead of Durant. The Suns are 9-5 this season, though they’ve misplaced 4 of their final 5 video games.
Anthony Edwards added 24 factors within the win for the Timberwolves, who are actually 8-6 on the season after their second straight victory. Donte DiVincenzo completed with 15 factors coming off the bench. Sunday’s sport was Minnesota’s solely dwelling sport in six video games. The Timberwolves will face the Toronto Raptors in Canada subsequent Thursday.
