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Love helps Timberwolves down Suns

Feb 26, 2014 - 7:30 AM Phoenix, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) - Kevin Love nearly had his second career triple-double in as many weeks with 33 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 110-101 win over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday.

Shabazz Muhammad tallied a career-high 20 points off the bench and Corey Brewer added 18 for the Timberwolves, who have won four of five.

Markieff Morris led Phoenix with 24 points, while Gerald Green and Goran Dragic netted 19 and 16, respectively, in the Suns' second straight loss.

P.J. Tucker pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds in the setback.

Morris hit a jumper with just under 3 1/2 minutes left to give the Suns a 97-96 lead. Brewer then scored the next four points to start a 9-0 run that Love capped with a 3-pointer to make it a 10-point game with 30.9 seconds left.

The Suns missed all eight of their field goal attempts since the Morris bucket gave them the lead, with four free throws being the only points scored in the closing minutes.

"With five minutes to go in the game it's a timeout, we said the team that makes the most stops will win the game," said Minnesota coach Rick Adelman. "We were physical, rebound the ball well, and won the game."

Phoenix led by as many as eight in the quarter before the visitors clawed their way back into the game before Minnesota's late run sealed it.

There were six ties and five lead changes in the first half, as the Timberwolves led 34-28 after one quarter, but the Suns grabbed a 57-55 lead at the break.

Phoenix brought an 81-75 lead into the fourth quarter before faltering late.

"It kind of ended how it started," said Green. "They were able to get things going in the beginning and got things going at the end."

Game Notes

Nikola Pekovic missed his 13th straight game for Minnesota with an ankle injury and Kevin Martin missed his seventh straight with a fractured thumb ... Minnesota shot 42-of-87 (48.3 percent) from the field. The Timberwolves are 9-0 this season when shooting better than 49 percent ... Phoenix outrebounded its counterpart, 50-38 ... The Suns defeated Minnesota, 104-103, on Jan. 8.