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Green's late bucket pushes Suns over T'Wolves

Jan 9, 2014 - 7:25 AM Minneapolis, MN (SportsNetwork.com) - Gerald Green scored 14 points, but none were bigger than his jumper late in the fourth quarter that pushed the Phoenix Suns past the Minnesota Timberwolves, 104-103, at Target Center.

Markieff Morris dropped a pass off to Green, who buried a corner jumper while falling out of bounds that put the Suns up with 3.9 seconds left.

"I just knew to just catch it and rise up and shoot it. The ball went in for me," Green said.

Kevin Martin drove the lane on the ensuing Minnesota possession and missed a three-foot runner as time expired.

Goran Dragic scored 12 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter to help the Suns snap a two-game losing streak against the Wolves.

Channing Frye scored 22 points on 5-of-10 shooting from 3-point range, while Miles Plumlee posted 11 points with nine rebounds for Phoenix.

Martin tallied 20 points for Minnesota, which dropped to 0-10 this season in games decided by four points or less.

"It's just a real tough loss. We just kind of gave it away," Wolves head coach Rick Adelman said.

Nikola Pekovic and Kevin Love both recorded double-doubles in the loss as Pekovic posted 17 points with 12 rebounds and Love finished with 15 points and 12 boards.

Love, however, shot 4-for-20 from the floor, including 1-of-5 from beyond the arc.

The Wolves trailed 53-47 at the break and a Pekovic putback midway through the third quarter spearheaded a 12-4 run to give Minnesota a 69-65 lead.

Phoenix answered with a three from Marcus Morris and a free throw from Plumlee, but Minnesota outscored the Suns 8-3 in the final 2:47 to take a 77-72 lead into the final frame.

Minnesota led by the same five-point margin when Green knocked down a trey at the 8:24 mark of the fourth to make it an 83-81 deficit.

Pekovic then took over as he alternated baskets with his team and scored seven points in a 2 1/2 minute span. He hit a three-point play with 5:13 remaining to give the hosts a 94-88 lead.

Corey Brewer followed with a triple in the far corner off a nice feed from Ricky Rubio to push the lead to nine with 4 1/2 minutes left.

Dragic then made a deep two-point jumper, stole the ball off Rubio on the ensuing Minnesota possession, and raced down the floor for a layup.

Phoenix didn't go away as PJ Tucker sank two free throws to cut into the deficit, 103-99, then Dragic pushed down the floor off of a Love miss and canned a tough layup in traffic to make it a one-possession game.

Markieff Morris was fouled with 41.4 seconds left, but only hit 1-of-2 from the line.

Out of a timeout, Rubio drove the lane and threw a reckless pass off of the bottom of the backboard for a turnover to set up Green's game-winner.

Game Notes

Eric Bledsoe missed his fourth straight game for the Suns with a sprained knee ... Minnesota shot 34-for-86 (39.5 percent) from the floor ... The Wolves edged the Suns on the boards 51-50 ... Minnesota outscored Phoenix 42-28 in the paint ... Brewer finished with 15 points in defeat.