Timberwolves vs. Sounds: Game 4 live updates

Follow tonight’s Wolves-Suns play-by-play here.

Star Tribune staff writer Chris Hine is in Phoenix filing live reports before, during and after Game 4 of the NBA Western Conference quarterfinal series between the Timberwolves and Suns at Footprint Center. The Wolves had a 3-0 series lead entering tonight’s game.

9:50 pm: Wolves’ first half shooting is tepid, and Suns grab the lead

The Wolves’ shooting woes continued in the second quarter and they trailed the Suns 61-56 at the half.

They finished just 17-for-45 from the floor and 4-for-18 from three-point range leading to their deficit.

Karl-Anthony Towns was 3-for-3 from three-point range, the rest of the team was 1-for-17.

Anthony Edwards was 2-for-8 at the half as neither team took a large lead on the other throughout a back-and-forth half. Phoenix’s five-point lead represented its largest lead of the half.

Kevin Durant had 20 points in 23 first-half minutes while Devin Booker had 19, which included a buzzer beater as time expired.

Towns led the Wolves with 15 while McDaniels had 11. The Wolves committed just five first-half turnovers but the Suns turned those into 12 points.

9:10 pm: Suns come to play, lead after one

The Timberwolves got off to a cold shooting start in the first quarter but trailed just 26-25 heading into the second quarter.

The Wolves shot 5-for-22 in the first quarter but benefited from going 14-for-15 from the free-throw line.

Rudy Gobert got into early foul trouble as he picked up two early fouls, both on the same possession, but the Wolves defense held its own without him on the floor.

Anthony Edwards started the night 0-for-5.

Jaden McDaniels led the Wolves with eight points while Devin Booker had nine for Phoenix, with six of those coming at the foul line.

The Wolves shot just 1-for-9 from three-point range.

7:14 pm: The waiting is the hardest part

For Timberwolves coach Chris Finch, the waiting in a playoff series is indeed the hardest part.

Finch was asked before tonight’s game how his team has handled its business in practices and meetings in between games, and he said it has been hard not to be anxious in a series that has been so spaced out.

There were two days off between Games 1, 2 and 3 with only one day off between Games 3 and 4 for the first time in the series.

“This has been a slow series, we’ve had two days between every single game,” he said. “When you’re in these things, no matter whether you’re up or down, the hardest thing I think is just the waiting. When you play a game and then you break it down and kind of know what you wanna do and what you need to do, what you think they’re going to do and how you need to counter it, you want to go put it in action. The waiting for me is probably the toughest.”

The Wolves did not hold a formal practice Saturday or a shootaround Sunday as they opted more for rest prior to Game 4. With a close out game on tap, Finch wants his team not to react too strongly to the emotions of the game.

“It’s the same as we’ve been talking about since Game 1,” Finch said. “You got to stay on an even keel. What’s going to happen, the emotion in the building will be high. Emotion from the opponent will be high. Emotion from everybody will be high. You got to stay within the game, the game plan , weather the storm and try not to beat yourself with silly play.”

6:37 pm: Grayson Allen won’t play for Phoenix

Suns guard Grayson Allen was the NBA’s best three-point shooter by percentage this season, but an ankle injury suffered in Game 1 was aggravated in Game 2 and sidelined him for Game 3.

Phoenix coach Frank Vogel said pregame that Allen won’t play tonight, leaving a hole in the Suns lineup because their three-point shooting has been subpar.

Royce O’Neale is expected to start in Allen’s spot alongside Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, Devin Booker and Jusuf Nurkic.

The Wolves starters have Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley, Jaden McDaniels, Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards.

5 pm: Finch third in NBA Coach of the Year voting

Finch was a finalist for the NBA Coach of the Year award, but in the end, he had no chance.

Mark Daigneault of the Oklahoma City Thunder was the winner in a runaway, getting 89 of 99 first place votes. The Thunder claimed the top seed in the West in the 39-year-old Daigneault’s fourth season; OKC went from a 40-42 record to 57-25.

The Wolves improved from 42-40 to 56-26 in the 54-year-old Finch’s fourth season. It was the second best regular season record for the franchise, which was 58-24 in 2003-24. The Timberwolves, after 35 seasons, still have the worst winning percentage (.411) in NBA history.

Finch was third in Coach of the Year voting. Daigneault had 89 first place votes, nine second place votes and one third for 473 points. Jamahl Mosley (4-36-30-158) was second, followed by Finch (1-23-31-105).

The other first-place votes went to Joe Mazzulla of Boston (2), Tom Thibodeau of New York (2) and Erik Spoelstra of Miami (1).