Tip-off: Monday, 8:05 p.m. ET
Line: Minnesota -5.0, Total: 214.0

The Suns will be hoping to avoid a third straight loss when they face the Timberwolves on Monday night.

Phoenix is coming off of a 114-101 loss as a 6.5-point underdog in Oklahoma City on Saturday. The Suns have now lost two straight and seven of their past 10. This team is just not defending well enough to win games right now, as the Suns have allowed their opponents to shoot 45% from the field or better in six of the past nine contests. Phoenix has also committed 15 or more turnovers in 10 of the past 14 games. The Suns need to take better care of the basketball moving forward. The Timberwolves, meanwhile, have been equally as bad, as they have now lost 11 of their past 15 games. Their struggles have also been on the defensive end, allowing eight of their past 11 opponents to hit 45% or more of their shots. One thing Minnesota has going for it is the fact that the team has covered in three straight. The Timberwolves also happen to be facing a Suns team that they defeated 98-85 as two-point road favorites on Nov. 25. They are 3-1 SU and 2-1-1 ATS when hosting the Suns over the past three seasons. The trends do, however, suggest a bounce back outing from Phoenix, as the team is 15-5 ATS off a road loss under head coach Earl Watson. Both teams will be close to full strength in this one, so injuries should not factor into the outcome of this game.

The Suns have had a miserable start to the season, but they did get some good news with SF T.J. Warren (16.6 PPG) returning from a 13-game absence on Saturday night. Warren is still not completely healthy, but he will help this team on the offensive end. He was off to a hot start this season and just needs to continue to attack offensively moving forward. It’s possible his minutes will be limited for a week or two, though. PG Eric Bledsoe (19.7 PPG, 5.4 APG, 5.4 RPG, 1.6 SPG) is, meanwhile, this team’s best player. Bledsoe is one of the quickest players in the league, and he also happens to be insanely strong for a point guard. He should find a way to get to the rim in this one, and he’s likely to finish or draw a foul once he gets there. It is, however, important that he starts to shoot the ball better soon. Bledsoe is hitting just 29.8% of his threes on the year and is capable of being a lot more accurate from there. SG Devin Booker (18.8 PPG) is another guy that needs to start shooting better. Booker is hitting just 32.6% of his threes on the year, and that is not very good for a guy that is considered to be a “shooter”. He’d be wise to stop settling, as he could help his team a ton by passing up bad shots.

The Timberwolves are not playing well right now, but they’ll have to turn things around if C Karl-Anthony Towns (22.1 PPG, 11.0 RPG, 1.4 BPG) keeps playing the way he did last game. Towns had 41 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in 43 minutes of action against Houston, and the Timberwolves really should have won that game. They blew a double-digit lead with just about two minutes to go in the fourth and ended up losing in overtime. Expect another huge game from Towns on Monday, as the Suns do not have many guys that match up well with him on the defensive end. Both SF Andrew Wiggins (21.9 PPG) and PG Zach LaVine (20.7 PPG) will need to step it up and help Towns as well. Both guys should thrive in what is likely to be an up-tempo game like this one, but they need to play both ends of the floor. Both guys are very offensive-minded and they have a tendency to get lazy on D. If they are to do that on Monday then the Timberwolves will not be able to stop this Phoenix team. It’s also worth mentioning C Gorgui Dieng (10.3 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 1.2 BPG), as Dieng is a good defender and a tough presence inside altogether. He will play hard in this one, and do everything he can to hold his own on the boards against some of the Suns’ bigs.