MINNEAPOLIS _ Two nights after the Timberwolves blew another big lead and lost a game that stung as much as any this season, they did just enough things right Monday to beat Phoenix 115-108 at Target Center.
A man who didn't take care of the ball well enough Saturday against Houston, Wolves young star Karl-Anthony Towns delivered a 28-point, 15-rebound game that included two decisive plays down the stretch and Andrew Wiggins scored 26 points while Zach LaVine added 23.
Towns' hard work on the offensive backboards created a putback layup, a foul and a three-point play that started the Wolves off on a late 10-2 run that won the game.
That three-point play turned a 105-103 lead into a five-point advantage.
When Towns closed out that 10-2 run by turning Ricky Rubio's pass into a driving layup, the Wolves led 115-105 with 1:34 left.
Their season's eighth victory came just two nights after the Wolves led Houston by 12 points with 2:20 left and by nine still in the fourth quarter's final minute, but lost 111-109 to a Rockets that snatched their 10th consecutive victory from defeat's grasp.
The Wolves lost because, like many times before, they failed to take care of the ball when it mattered most.
"It's a compilation of things," Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau said before Monday's game. "That's a big part of winning: You have to eliminate all the ways you beat yourself first. It usually starts with taking a hard look at your turnovers and your fouls. How are they occurring and what's causing them."
The answer usually is either a risky pass or too much one-on-one play, Thibodeau said. Then Thibodeau said he and his team examine its ball-handling fundamentals and the way it reads the opposing defends and reacts to it.
He said his bobbled the ball too much Saturday when they needed to hold on tight.
"It's really oftentimes quite simple," Thibodeau said. "It's passing with two hands, catching with two hands, rebounding with two hands. Those are the things you're looking at."
The Wolves made their mistakes Monday, again throwing the ball about far too casually with the game in doubt.
Their 14-point, second-quarter lead dissipated until they led just 99-97 with fewer than seven minutes left.
Wiggins scored on consecutive possessions _ driving the lane hard to the rim for a layup the first time and getting to the rim again in transition with a spinning score the second time _ that pushed the Wolves lead back to 103-97 midway through the fourth quarter.
When the Suns responded by getting 105-103, Towns answered with his relentless and what Thibodeau likes to call "multiple effort" work that resulted into a putback layup that drew a foul, too.
He made the free throw and the Wolves led 108-103 with 3:31 left.
When LaVine made a left-wing three-point shot the Wolves led 111-104 with 2:48 left.
The Suns never got closer than six points again.
The last time these teams played, the Wolves used a closing 24-5 run to come back and beat the Suns 98-85 in Phoenix on the night after Thanksgiving.
Wiggins scored 25 points in that one and Towns' 22-point, 10-rebound night included a 3-pointer that triggered that winning run.
This time, the Wolves built a seven-point, first-quarter lead and led 29-23 after one quarter. They pushed that lead to 50-40 with fewer than five minutes remaining before halftime and led 62-48 in the final minute before they allowed the second quarter's final six points.
That allowed the Suns to pull within 62-54 at intermission after a first half in which LaVine scored 16, Towns 15 and Brandon Knight led the Suns with 12 points off the bench.
