Suns most to blame for Game 2 loss to Timberwolves

The Suns went all-in this past offseason; they traded away Chris Paul (and a few other pieces) in exchange for Bradley Beal, a piece that many thought would take this Phoenix team over the top. Beal has endured a plethora of injury problems this past season, but he has been mostly healthy leading up to the playoffs, which means that the Suns will have little to no excuses if they manage to flame out in the first round.

In Game 1, Beal finished with only 15 points in a 25-point blowout. But it’s not like he had much usage in the Suns offense. He put up just 10 shot attempts and made six of them, filling his role in a Phoenix offense that has prioritized Kevin Durant and Devin Booker more.

On Tuesday, however, Bradley Beal took the most shot attempts for the Suns, and he made six of them. The problem was that he attempted 17 shots, and it’s not quite clear how the shot distribution must go for Phoenix to capitalize on their roster construction that has plenty of overlap, skillset-wise, among its three stars.

Given how much the Suns invested in Beal, getting a 14-point night on 35 percent shooting on 17 shots in a game where the goal is to steal homecourt advantage isn’t ideal. The 30-year old guard was supposed to be a major upgrade over Chris Paul, and he still might be on an individual-level, but his fit in Phoenix is starting to become more and more questionable with each passing loss.

Suns’ defense is problematic

A cursory look at the box score would suggest that the Suns didn’t exactly fare too poorly on defense against the Timberwolves. Minnesota shot the exact same percentage as Phoenix did (35/78, 44.9 percent), and Anthony Edwards even went 3-12 from the floor. It’s not too often that Edwards would shoot that poorly from the field, and credit must go to the Suns’ defense for holding him in check.

But the problem for the Suns is that they were unable to set the tempo defensively. The Timberwolves got to the paint at will, and the Suns, on plenty of occasions, allowed easy dribble drives or cuts towards the basket.

Edwards, despite struggling with his shot, dropped eight dimes, while Rudy Gobert, long panned for his lack of an offensive bag, helped establish Minnesota’s rim pressure against a flimsy Suns interior. Even Jaden McDaniels, a man who scored a combined 25 points in the three regular season games against the Suns, popped off for that exact total in Game 2.

As a result, the Suns had to compensate for their lack of lockdown perimeter defense and meh rim protection by fouling. They allowed the Timberwolves to get to the foul line 30 times, with Minnesota making 26 of those attempts, and the understated impact of this is that the Timberwolves got to set their league-leading defense in the halfcourt — a recipe for disaster for the Suns.

The Suns’ questionable at best defense in Game 2 had a snowball effect towards their offense, and at this point, their problems appear to be down to their lack of quality personnel to deal with the Timberwolves.

Grayson Allen’s absence could prove costly

Grayson Allen has emerged as one of the Suns’ most important players, and he has been one of their best perimeter defenders. So for the Suns to lose him to a right ankle injury that limited him to just 17 minutes in Game 2 is concerning, as this could be an issue that keeps the 28-year old sniper out for a few games, or, at the very least, limit his effectiveness.

The Timberwolves are a legitimate contender, so the Suns will need all hands on deck as they head into a must-win Game 3. Thankfully for Phoenix, there will be two days off before they have to play again, so the hope now is that Allen is able to recuperate before then.