MINNEAPOLIS — The frustration was impossible to miss.
Devin Booker slapped the basketball and grimaced as Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert slipped through untouched for a dunk. Kevin Durant dropped his head after Anthony Edwards swished a jumper, igniting the Target Center crowd.
Then there was Frank Vogel, the first-year coach of the Phoenix Suns, jumping on the sideline after officials ruled, maybe incorrectly, that a ball bounced off Durant and out of bounds.
This not only is a portrait of a team down 2-0 in the Western Conference series but maybe one without answers to do what’s needed to rally. In Tuesday’s 105-93 Game 2 loss, the sixth-seeded Suns actually improved in areas. They were more physical. They rebounded better and they held Edwards, the star of Game 1, mostly in check.
But they also lost their composure during a key stretch, and this is starting to look like a hurdle too big to clear. Fragile basketball teams are exposed this time of year, a major reason the Suns left Minnesota late Tuesday night two losses from elimination.
“We’re all trying to fight out there, and so far in this series, once it’s turned to s—, we’ve kind of separated instead of being together,’’ Booker said. “And that’s everybody, top to bottom. It’s something we got to figure out.”
As the series shifts to Phoenix, the pressure falls on Vogel, a coach who won a championship with the Lakers and took the Pacers to the conference finals but has yet to put his stamp on a star-studded team that’s struggling to find an identity. With Booker, Durant and Bradley Beal, the Suns are a team of stars. When adversity hits — as it has in games 1 and 2 — it does so like an avalanche. And the Suns get buried.
“We’ve been a pretty poised group throughout the course of the season,’’ Vogel said. “Came back in a lot of fourth quarters (when) we’ve been down. Stayed locked into the game. But the emotions are higher in the playoffs. The NBA playoffs will test your emotional stability. As our first time going through this together as a group, when we face adversity we have to respond to it. We didn’t handle it well enough (Tuesday).”
The Timberwolves are everything the Suns are not. They’re gritty, tough and strong defensively. Although they have stars in Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns, they don’t need them to play incredibly well to win. That’s usually not the case with Phoenix. The Suns need their “Big 3” to play starring roles. Or at least two of the three. When that doesn’t happen, it’s a struggle.
Both games in Minnesota have followed a similar script. The Suns have started OK only to fizzle. In Game 1, a 21-5 burst to close the third quarter buried them. In Game 2, the third-seeded Timberwolves scored 12 in a row, a spurt that allowed them to pull away and ignite the home crowd. Phoenix lost guard Grayson Allen, who reinjured his right ankle during this stretch, but the bigger issue was the officiating. The Suns let a few questionable whistles distract them and lose focus. Minnesota’s lead ballooned to 19.
“We’re trying our best to get out of those little slumps when they go on a 7 … 8-0 run, but I think we still try to put ourselves in position to win,’’ Durant said. “We cut it to like 13, 12, but we just couldn’t get over that hump. This team’s been killing us in the third with those runs, so we have to figure that out.”
Jaden McDaniels shoots over Kevin Durant in Game 2. (Brad Rempel / USA Today)
Vogel said the Suns discussed this before the playoffs started: How at some point something will go wrong. Foul trouble. Poor officiating. Bad defense. And the importance of moving beyond it. Next play. Next possession. Rearview mirror. It’s a lesson Phoenix hasn’t learned.
“We got some bad calls, but that happens in every game,’’ Vogel said. “We can’t let that distract our focus. And when they’re scoring on us, and we’re not getting the right stops, we can’t not be organized offensively, and we had too many possessions like that.”
Vogel points out that Phoenix is not a seasoned postseason team. That’s true. The Suns overhauled their roster last offseason and added to their bench at the trade deadline. Even so, Booker has played on this stage. Durant has won championships. Questionable calls or momentum swings shouldn’t rattle this team.
Yet they do.
Beal said mental toughness is required to overcome these situations. Asked if the Suns have had enough of that this season, he said they’ve had their ups and downs.
“We’re human beings, everything’s not going to be perfect. But we work through it,’’ Beal said. “I think we’ve been a lot better than what we have been.”
Booker said communication is required. And it’s worth noting he has said this for the bulk of the season.
“(This) is when you have to be as close as ever,” Booker said. “In a hostile environment. On the road. Just talk your way through it. Hold each other accountable. Have the honest conversations and understand it’s for the best of the team.”
Throughout his career, Vogel has thrived in these situations. Entering this season, he had lost Game 1 in a playoff series nine of 15 times. Eight times, however, his teams went on to win Game 2, which suggests he has made good adjustments and prepared his team well. But not Tuesday. After Booker struggled in Game 1, Vogel said Phoenix had to be more creative to try and get the star guard better looks. In Game 2, Booker shot 6 of 13 and finished with 20 points. He was 1-of-6 from 3.
Overall, Phoenix’s “Big 3” shot 18 of 45 and totaled 52 points. They combined to make three 3-pointers. Defensively, the Suns limited Edwards to 15 points but let Jaden McDaniels go off for 25, nearly 15 points above his average.
The takeaway is clear: At key moments in this series, one team has looked connected, and the other has looked rattled. Game 3 is Friday at Footprint Center.
“I’m not trying to think like that,” Durant said of the dismal odds a team faces rallying from an 0-2 deficit. “We got the next game ahead of us. We got to focus on every possession.”
(Top photo of Devin Booker losing control of the ball in Game 2: Brad Rempel / USA Today)
