PHOENIX _ On a night when Timberwolves star Jimmy Butler fulfilled a promise to become a different, more aggressive player, the Phoenix Suns were the ones who scored 14 unanswered points late in the game to win, 118-110, at Talking Stick Resort Arena.
Trailing 103-97 with 4:40 left, the Suns didn't allow the Wolves another point until Butler's free throw with 47.3 seconds left ended nearly four minutes when the Suns scored one point after another.
By the time Butler stopped the barrage, the Suns led 111-104 in the final minute before the Wolves closed to within as little as four points.
When it was all over, the Suns had ended a five-game losing streak _ including their last three at home _ and the Wolves had opened 0-2 on a three-game trip that started with Wednesday's lopsided loss at Golden State and ends Monday at Utah.
Suns guard Devin Booker and forward T.J. Warren combined to score 70 points _ 35 each _ while Butler's team-leading 25 points came on a 5-for-16 shooting night that included 14 of 16 free throws made.
Leading 28-19 after the first quarter and by four points at halftime, the Wolves trailed by as many as eight points midway through the third quarter before they used a 13-2 run to regain the lead.
They did so mostly with Butler playing the primary ball-handler in a backcourt after Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau subbed backup Tyus Jones for struggling Jeff Teague at point guard.
The Wolves led 88-85 entering the final quarter after Jones' successful shot at the third-quarter buzzer was ruled by video review to have come after time expired.
They pushed their lead to 94-87 with less than 10 minutes remaining, but the Suns scored the next 10 points to take a 97-94 lead with final seven minutes remaining.
But the Wolves, in turn, answered by scoring the next six points themselves, with both Andrew Wiggins and Butler getting to the rim to score and Wiggins capping the 6-0 run he started, doing so by making a pair of free throws.
They gave the Wolves a 100-97 lead with less than six minutes left.
After Butler drew a charging call on Booker, Teague provided his first 3-pointer of the game and the Wolves led 103-97 with 4:40 left.
On Friday, Butler vowed he'd be a "different player from here on out" and promised he'd be more aggressive offensively, looking for his shot.
"I'm going back to putting the ball in the basket," he said. "I like to put the ball in the basket. I think I've gotten really good at it over the years."
In Saturday's first half, he discovered one way to be more aggressive.
He made just one of seven shots from the field in the half but got himself to the free-throw line for 10 shots and made every one of them.
The last three of the first half came on a savvy veteran move, when he lured Booker into a foul some 25 feet from the basket and earned three free throws with 0.2 seconds left.
That sent the Wolves into halftime with a 60-56 lead after they used a 14-2 run late in the first quarter to lead 28-19 after the first 12 minutes.
By halftime, the Wolves had outdistanced the Suns 20-5 in free throws made and yet only led 60-56 due to the scoring provided by Booker and Warren.
Entering Saturday, the Wolves led the NBA in free-throw differential, making seven more free throws a game than their opponent in their first 11 games.
They finished Saturday's game with a bulging advantage in free throws made, thanks mostly to Butler's promised aggressiveness.
"Jimmy has been a great player in the league for a long time," Thibodeau said before Saturday's game. "He knows what he needs to do. The big thing was getting everyone else going first and the most important part is the winning part of it. That's what he has helped set the tone for, and now if we need more scoring, he'll provide more scoring. End of game, we know what he brings. But I think there will be more (aggressiveness) and I think it will open more things for us."
