PHOENIX — It was an inconceivable comeback. And yet, by the day, these Phoenix Suns make us believe more and more in conceiving such things.
A miraculous 114-113 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves saw them overcome an eight-point deficit with 50 seconds remaining, doing all of it without Devin Booker and the last possession without Dillon Brooks.
“It’s crazy. I wasn’t even a part of it. I kind of blacked out,” Booker said. “I’m gonna have to watch it back to break down everything that happened that quick.”
To go to the end before later working our way backwards, adding on the sidelined Grayson Allen (right quad contusion) and Jalen Green (right hamstring strain) meant we were already working quite our way down the pecking order to see who gets the play drawn up for them when the Suns have the ball down one with 12 seconds left.
The name up on the sheet was Collin Gillespie.
“He was the first tonight,” Suns head coach Jordan Ott said of the aforementioned pecking order.
As designed, Gillespie got a switch going downhill at a stationary defender, finding enough room for a one-footed jumper from nine feet that went down.
In the possession that is the biggest testament to how connected the Suns are, they played exceptional defense right after Gillespie drained it at 6.4 seconds remaining.
Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards got a quick inbound and immediately saw two defenders collapse with a third on the way, so he moved off it to Julius Randle. Phoenix’s Ryan Dunn then wisely backed up, welcoming a jumper and containing a potential drive. For good measure, Royce O’Neale flashed over late to cut off any lane to the basket, and Randle got off a side-step 3 that wasn’t close. Ball game.
COLLIN GILLESPIE WINS IT FOR THE SUNS IN THE FINAL SECONDS!!!
ENDED THE GAME ON A 9-0 RUN.
PHOENIX MOVES TO 2-0 IN WEST GROUP A 🔥 pic.twitter.com/4MoPXWx4fp
— NBA (@NBA) November 22, 2025
No one was surprised Gillespie was the guy for that moment, including himself.
“I wasn’t really shocked because Dillon fouled out and Book had fouled out already,” Gillespie said.
“We seen that same recipe a lot this summer,” Booker said, noting Gillespie had a few game-winners in the scrimmages prior to the season. “No surprise. Poise, just his whole demeanor. He’s taken advantage of his opportunity to the fullest, we’re all rallying behind him and he’s just a dog.”
Where to begin with how we even got there?
Let’s get through those other seven points in what could laughably be surmised in such a way as simply a 9-0 run to conclude the basketball contest.
With Phoenix (10-6) down eight and 68 seconds remaining, Brooks missed a 3 off a broken possession that was incredibly fortunate to end with the rebound getting secured and put back in by O’Neale at that 49-second mark.
Edwards then turned over the inbounds pass, a pass deflected by Gillespie and saved by him, leading to an open Jordan Goodwin 3 that went down.
Just like that, it was a one-possession game, 113-110 Timberwolves at 43 seconds to go. Edwards then worked his way through the chaos into an actual real possession of offense. He created an open triple for Randle, only for Randle to turn it down for a drive into three Suns that was stripped by Brooks and spurred a fastbreak lay-in for Goodwin.
Minnesota (10-6) then immediately inbounded to Randle, and Randle’s pass was tipped by Goodwin before O’Neale snatched the loose ball. His open lane toward a potential go-ahead lay-in was met at the rim by the Timberwolves’ Jaden McDaniels for a block, only for a whistle to have already been blown on an offensive foul for Brooks clearing that lane for O’Neale, his sixth foul.
THIS SUNS SEQUENCE 🔥
7 STRAIGHT POINTS TO CUT IT TO 1!
Timberwolves-Suns | West Group A | NBA League Pass pic.twitter.com/6CHFF0I83t
— NBA (@NBA) November 22, 2025
This was the first time the game was able to breathe again after the maddening sequence had played out in just under a minute of real time.
The call was upheld, and Edwards then received the Timberwolves inbound still somehow up one at 19 seconds left. He was fouled seven seconds later.
Edwards, who had been the absolute man to that point, shockingly missed both, setting the stage for Gillespie.
Minnesota’s collapse was a rapid stumble down a flight of stairs, whereas the Suns’ to get in that position was more of the slowest moving snowball down the largest hill.
Phoenix kicked off the game shooting 20-for-32 (62.5%) and was up 18. Regression was coming but it was as cruel as it was quick.
The Suns, led by the incompetence of Booker, could not put together a quality possession, ending them in either a mass of turnovers or a bad shot. Minnesota sparked a 28-9 surge less than eight minutes into the second half to go up by six.
Edwards caught fire in the middle of this and kept that flamethrower churning up until the mid-fourth quarter, when at a six-point advantage and just over five minutes to go, Booker set up a O’Neale 3, got a ridiculous baseline middy to go down, hit a free throw off a Timberwolves take foul and set up a Mark Williams floater for an 8-0 run and improbable Suns two-point lead.
On the very next possession, Booker fouled out battling with Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert for a rebound. The call was announced as on Booker but showed up on the scoreboard as Brooks’ sixth foul instead, which Suns coaches tried to use to their advantage by pointing out for the refs. Eventually, the call was corrected and Ott wisely did not challenge to keep the timeout he would later need to set up Gillespie’s game-winner.
Booker got a technical foul on his way off the floor, and after Timberwolves guard Donte DiVincenzo made that free throw, he converted on an open 3. Brooks matched with a middy, only for Edwards to get fouled on a 3-pointer to redo Phoenix’s meltdown all over and he sunk all three before setting up a McDaniels jumper. A few free throws would follow to get us to that original eight-point deficit.
Booker played arguably the worst game of his career when taking out the context of the stakes in this game compared to the rare playoff stinkers he’s had in the past. He shot 4-of-18, which we’ve seen before, but we haven’t seen it also come with nine turnovers that tied his career high.
“They were doing a good job keeping a body on me at all times up in pick-and-rolls and they were playing it aggressive,” Booker said of it.
Those nine giveaways were a part of 28 total for Phoenix.
Edwards scored a game-high 41 points on 14-of-24 shooting. In his last five games at Mortgage Matchup Center including the playoffs, he’s posted 36, 40, 33, 44 and now 41 points. Friday was the first one to end in a loss.
Brooks had a team-high 22 points for the Suns. He was aware that this was a matchup in the past that did not go well for the Suns, often done in a manner by Minnesota with its chest out. He was incredibly physical with Randle from the jump and was not going to let them get pushed around as they had so many times in this tilt previously.
“That’s why they made that trade because of games like this,” Brooks said. “We gotta find a way to have that dog, that mentality. I feel like that’s why they brought me here for these type of games. I give energy off that shows every night.”
“Yeah, they were talking too early. And I love that, when guys get too confident,” Brooks added. “And once the pressure starts heating up, their eyes start getting big and they start getting scared.”
Brooks alluded to the fear he specifically saw from Randle, who ended up with 20 points and five turnovers.
Six Suns players finished in double figures, including Gillespie (20), Williams (19), O’Neale (16) and Goodwin (13).