MINNEAPOLIS _ Both the Timberwolves and Suns filled up the injury report as they did the box score on Saturday.
Missing for the Wolves were Josh Okogie, Robert Covington and Treveon Graham, the team's three best perimeter defenders, in addition to Jake Layman and Shabazz Napier.
Out for the Suns were former Wolves darling Ricky Rubio, Aron Baynes and DeAndre Ayton.
Those who were left played a basketball game at Target Center. It wasn't a very aesthetically pleasing game for those in attendance, and compounding matters, the Wolves couldn't come away with a win in a 100-98 loss.
Karl-Anthony Towns tried to carry the Wolves on his lumbering back with 31 points and 17 rebounds but his tying 3-point attempt with the Wolves down 98-95 with 9.2 seconds remaining missed long, ending the Wolves' comeback.
Leading up to Towns' 3, the Wolves had another opportunity to tie or get within one when Jordan Bell grabbed a rebound off a missed Jeff Teague free throw, but Andrew Wiggins' floater missed.
After Towns' missed 3, Devin Booker iced the game for Phoenix with a pair of free throws to cap off a 35-point night for him. Kelly Oubre Jr. had 25 and no other Suns player was in double figures.
Andrew Wiggins had 21 points on 9-of-21 shooting while Keita Bates-Diop had 22 off the bench. It didn't help the Wolves' efforts that they shot just 10 of 17 from the free-throw line.
Wolves coach Ryan Saunders wasn't afraid to tinker with his lineups early, inserting Jaylen Nowell, Keita Bates-Diop and Kelan Martin on the floor at the same time during the first quarter. All three were playing in the G-League in Iowa recently.
It was then that the Suns made their first push to grab a first-half lead. With the 24-23 Phoenix, the Suns closed the first quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 30-23 lead into the second. The Wolves had led 16-9 at one point during the quarter but the lead started to dissipate even before Saunders went to his bench. Oubre scored five points on an 8-0 Phoenix run that helped the Suns eventually sling shot into the lead.
The Wolves' scoring woes carried over into the second period, as the Suns played a heavy dose of zone, daring the Wolves to shoot from deep. They obliged, but they hardly hit anything, and Phoenix was able to push its lead to 40-29, its largest of the first half.
Towns almost brought the Wolves back, scoring five straight points, but the Suns got an open 3 from Frank Kaminsky and a step-back from Booker to restore their lead.
The Suns weren't exactly lighting it up _ they shot just 37% _ but the Wolves were just 38% and 6 of 22 from 3-point range.
Towns would help the Wolves get all the way back in the third quarter. Down 61-51, the Wolves scored eight straight _ all from Towns _ to get within two. They would finally tie the score, 65-65, a few moments later on a three from Keita-Bates Diop. With the Wolves trailing 69-67, Towns had to exit for rest at the 4:29 mark, and the Suns outscored the Wolves by seven the rest of the quarter.
Booker heated up for the Suns in the third. After going 4 of 11 in the first half for eight points, Booker was 5 of 8 in the third and 7 for 7 at the line for 17 in the third. Oubre added another eight.
The Wolves made more pushed at the Suns in the fourth and got the score as close as four multiple times thanks in part to an energetic Jordan Bell off the bench. They got it within 94-92 when Teague laid one in with 2:51 to play. The Wolves were within 96-94 on a Wiggins layup, but they could get no closer.
