Jaden McDaniels shines as Wolves take 2-0 series lead over Suns

McDaniels poured in 25 points as Minnesota crushed Phoenix for the second straight game.

Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) rebounds against the Phoenix Suns in the first quarter during game two of the first round for the 2024 NBA playoffs at Target Center in Minneapolis on April 23, 2024. / Brad Rempel / USA TODAY Sports

Anthony Edwards once said the Phoenix Suns have Kevin Durant, but the Timberwolves have Jaden McDaniels. 

Advantage Timberwolves. At least in Game 2 of their Western Conference first-round series Tuesday.

McDaniels was a driving force for the Wolves offense in a 105-93 victory over the Suns at sold-out Target Center in downtown Minneapolis. The Wolves now have a 2-0 series lead with the series set to shift to Phoenix Friday night. And McDaniels was the driver with 25 points and several key buckets.

"Ant know what he talking about," McDaniels said. "Love to compete, so it's just something for me just to kinda have a chip on my shoulder knowing that I still got to go out there and show people I can play defense, I can guard KD and I can score as well. So just being myself, really."

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said it was probably the best he's ever seen McDaniels play.

During the fourth quarter, McDaniels capped an 11-0 Timberwolves run with back-to-back layups, giving Minnesota a 93-76 cushion. That was a lead the Suns were never able to work their way back from as the Wolves pulled away in a similar manner as they did in the Game 1 blowout.

As the Timberwolves' lead grew, eventually, frustration boiled over for the Suns as coach Frank Vogel was whistled for a technical foul with 5 minutes, 17 seconds remaining after the Wolves got a steal on their own end and Rudy Gobert was fouled going up for a layup.

Mike Conley made the technical free throw, and Gobert made both of his attempts from the free-throw line to extend the Timberwolves' lead to 99-83.

After the Wolves got a stop on the other end, it was none other than McDaniels who drilled a 3-pointer to make it a 19-point Timberwolves advantage with 4 minutes, 41 seconds remaining.

It didn't take much longer for the Suns to again wave the white flag at a white-out Target Center.

McDaniels was battling all night long. In the second quarter, he got into a bit of a shoving match with Devin Booker in a sequence that resulted in a defensive foul on Booker and a technical foul on McDaniels. But McDaniels would get the last laugh as Booker later fouled out in the fourth quarter.

"I thought it was going to be a classic double technical," Finch said of the shoving between McDaniels and Booker. "They said, you know, Booker had pushed, that was the foul. The retaliation was the technical."

While McDaniels was the driving force, he certainly wasn’t the only Timberwolves player to make an offensive impact. All five Wolves starters, and six players in all, finished in double figures, with Conley also providing 18 points, four rebounds and four assists. Gobert had 18 points and nine boards.

Suns guard Grayson Allen was in the starting lineup despite being listed as questionable before the contest due to an ankle injury suffered during Game 1. But Allen’s return was short-lived as he exited during the third quarter after drawing an offensive foul on the Wolves. Allen was very slow to get up and eventually limped to the locker room and did not return. His status going forward is uncertain.

Finch said pregame that Kyle Anderson’s status for Game 2 was “to be determined” as he was listed as questionable before the game with a right hip pointer. Anderson didn’t see any action in Tuesday night's victory, and Finch said after the game Anderson's status was still "to be determined."

The Timberwolves would certainly like to have him back sooner rather than later, but either way, they'll take a 2-0 series lead with them to Phoenix.