But by any measure, their Friday night outing was a
disappointment, and Shaquille O’Neal had a lot to do with it. The
Wolves fell behind by 23 points in the first quarter and suffered a
117-88 undressing by the Phoenix Suns at US Airways Center.
 
The Suns improved to 11-3 in their past 14 games
with O’Neal in their lineup. The Wolves dropped to 1-5 in their past
six games, including four losses by double digits.
 
 
 
Wolves record: 19-56
 
 

 

Al Jefferson scored 20 on 11-of-26 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who fell to an NBA-worst 5-32 on the road. The Timberwolves shot 38 percent. 
 
 
 

O’Neal helped control Jefferson but Amaré Stoudemire fared much better against Jefferson defensively as the Timberwolves center missed 12 of his first 16 shots Friday. It was his 2-of-8 first quarter start that did all the damage in Phoenix’s seventh consecutive home winning streak, its longest of the season. Minnesota managed only 15 first-quarter points, tying an opponent low for the slowest start of the season against the Suns. 
 
 
 
 

Ryan Gomes was the only Wolves starter who made as many field-goal
attempts as he missed. The team’s starting backcourt — Randy Foye and
Marko Jaric — shot a combined 10-for-31. The first two players off the
Wolves’ bench — Corey Brewer and Rashad McCants — combined to shoot
5-for-18. 

 
 
 
Phoenix went 1-2 in the first three games this season against Minnesota before the Suns acquired Shaquille O’Neal.
 
"We struggled against them because we were a different team back then, and that was not with Shaq," Suns coach Mike D’Antoni said. "Shaq’s presence in there, especially with guys like (Al) Jefferson and (Craig) Smith, people that beat you up inside, he just kind of negates all that and makes it a lot easier." 
 
 
 
After being outrebounded by 54 (153-99) and yielding 56 offensive
rebounds in the first three games, the Suns enjoyed a 52-39 edge on the
glass Friday with O’Neal, Grant Hill and Stoudemire getting 11, 10 and
nine, respectively.