Phoenix Suns – Minnesota Timberwolves · NBA

Win probability changed during the game. · 20 January 2019

PHX114–116MIN

Is it worth watching?

Highly recommended

It was more exciting than 97% of NBA games since 2017

· It was still open in the final minutes
· The win probability swung between the two teams 16 times
· It stayed close for almost the whole game

It measures how much the win probability moved during the game —without looking at who won or at the score— and compares it with the 10,950 NBA games with a curve since 2017. “Highly recommended” is the most intense 20%, “recommended” runs from 50% to 80%, and “skippable” is the rest. Source: ESPN.

↑ MIN winsPHX wins ↓

Home team's win probability across the game (source: ESPN). The band rises when MIN leads and falls when PHX does.

This is how the game was decided.

Derrick Rose decided it, the Minnesota Timberwolves player with the most points (31, with 4 rebounds and 3 assists; +1 with him on the floor); the winner's best plus-minus was Andrew Wiggins's (+7). The criterion: the winner's points in the box score; plus-minus says who was on the floor when the game opened up.

The game-winner in Minnesota Timberwolves 116-114 Phoenix Suns (January 20, 2019) was hit by Derrick Rose: a jump shot with 0.9 s left in the fourth quarter, putting the Minnesota Timberwolves up 116-114. They never trailed again.

The biggest run of Minnesota Timberwolves 116-114 Phoenix Suns (January 20, 2019) was a 12-0 run by the Phoenix Suns between the first quarter and the second quarter, from 26-29 to 38-29. The Minnesota Timberwolves' best was a 11-0 run in the first quarter (from 2:44 to 1:06), from 16-24 to 27-24.

▸See where these figures come from

Play: Derrick Rose makes 20-foot step back jumpshot.

I count as the game-winner the basket that puts the winning team ahead for good. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

A run here is consecutive points by one team without the opponent scoring. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

Source: the game's official box score and play-by-play.

Derrick Rose decided this game: his points put his team ahead with 0.9 seconds left in the fourth quarter, and the opponent never led again.

It is one of the 5 games he has decided this way in the NBA since the 2002-03 season.

His profile shows the games Rose decided

▸See where these figures come from

A game is decided by the last basket that puts a team ahead in the final ten seconds of the fourth quarter or of an overtime, if that team wins.

20 January 2019 · The source is the ESPN play-by-play, play espn:401071365:759; the date is the one on the NBA box score.

Who stood out on defense during the season

These figures cover the whole 2018-19 regular season, not this game.

Phoenix Suns

Kelly Oubre Jr. deflected 3.0 passes per game over his 69 games.
He ranks 12 of 380 in the league.
Dragan Bender defended 5.2 shots at the rim per game over his 44 games, and opponents made 11 fewer out of every 100 than usual.
He ranks 5 of 129 in the league.
Mikal Bridges deflected 2.8 passes per game over his 81 games.
He ranks 19 of 380 in the league.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Karl-Anthony Towns contested 14.7 shots per game over his 77 games.
He ranks 4 of 380 in the league.
Anthony Tolliver drew 0.24 charges per game over his 59 games.
He ranks 14 of 380 in the league.
Jeff Teague drew 0.21 charges per game over his 42 games.
He ranks 18 of 380 in the league.

Hustle figures come from the hustle stats the NBA publishes (NBA.com) and rim defense comes from its tracking; both cover the regular season. For each player in this game we show the figure that ranks him highest in the league, and for each team, the three best ranked. Ranks count players with at least 30 games and, at the rim, at least 4 defended shots per game.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have won 53 of their 138 games against the Phoenix Suns.

53-85record of the Minnesota Timberwolves · NBA 1989-90 – 2025-26, regular season and playoffs

1-2in 2025-26

See the full head-to-head in the Analyst

See where it comes from

Official NBA box scores, regular season and playoffs, 1989-90 – 2025-26. It counts every game between the two teams that the house holds, this one included.

SportiveWorld knows much more about this game

Game context

Attendance

14.607

81% of capacity

Target Center · Minneapolis

Scoring

230

combined points

7.6 above the season average (222.4)

⚖️ The last two minutes

Official NBA L2M report: every call in the endgame, reviewed by the league.

17 calls reviewed0 no admitted errors