Anthony Edwards puts up 40 as Timberwolves finish sweep of Suns - ESPN

PHOENIX — Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards noticed early in the third quarter that the Phoenix Suns switched up their defense, playing him one-on-one most of the time instead of using the double-teams from the first half.

The budding superstar took that as a challenge.

«It was like, you've got to beat us,» Edwards said. «And I showed them.»

Edwards scored 31 of his 40 points in the second half, Karl-Anthony Towns added 28 points overall and the Timberwolves pulled away late to beat the Suns 122-116 on Sunday night and sweep the first-round playoff series.

The Timberwolves went 19 seasons between playoff series victories, tied for the third-longest span between series wins in NBA history.

Edwards finished 13-of-23 from the field, including 7-of-13 from 3-point range. The 22-year-old threw down a powerful, one-handed jam to give Minnesota a 115-111 lead with 2:14 left.

«We've watched him grow, evolve as a leader, as a player, as a man,» Wolves center Rudy Gobert said. «It's been fun.»

Phoenix would never recover.

The Wolves finished off the Suns despite Devin Booker's 49 points on 13-of-21 shooting. He also made 20 of 21 free throws. Kevin Durant put up 33 points for Phoenix, but the rest of the team struggled.

Minnesota won after coach Chris Finch left the game late in the fourth after an inadvertent collision with Wolves guard Mike Conley. Assistant coach Micah Nori took over for the final 1:41, and the Wolves closed with relative ease.

Minnesota's Jaden McDaniels scored 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting, and the Wolves had a 44-33 rebounding advantage.

It was a tight fourth quarter, and the Suns tied it at 107 on Royce O'Neale's 3-pointer with 4:30 remaining. Edwards and McDaniels then hit back-to-back corner 3s