Timberwolves defense does enough to overcome Kevin Durant’s 31 points

Kevin Durant was a one-man offensive show for the Suns on Saturday, despite his team’s 120-95 loss to the Timberwolves in Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference quarterfinal series at Target Center.

The 35-year-old Durant scored 31 points on 11-of-17 shooting, despite the defense of Jaden McDaniels, Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns.

“Jaden did a great job, KAT did a great job on Durant, he was just hitting his shots,” said Wolves guard Anthony Edwards.

“KAT was playing great defense. Rudy was playing great defense. And it’s just like he don’t see ’em.”

Devin Booker scored 18 for the Suns but got in early foul trouble and was only 5-for-16 from the floor as the first half featured a lot of contact.

“We all just need to adjust to the playoffs, the physicality,” Booker said. “They’re being overly physical with me, and I had three early fouls and went to the bench. Just trying to find a rhythm from there.”

Said Phoenix coach Frank Vogel: “We’ve got to do a better job of getting him open.”

Durant, the former NBA MVP who won two league championships with Golden State, was a team-low minus-22 on Saturday, and Booker was minus-15.

“We might have fouled too much there at bad times trying to be physical, but we’ll figure it out,” Durant said. “The refs are letting us play and that’s the type of game we want.”

The Wolves lost Kyle Anderson in the first half because of a hip pointer.

Finch did not have an update after the game on Anderson, who played five minutes before he left for the locker room in the second quarter.

The Suns played much of the second half without forward Grayson Allen, who left because of a right ankle sprain. The NBA’s best three-point shooter this season, Allen had a rough game, missing all three of his shots from the field and scoring only four points, all on free throws.

Game 2 is Tuesday night at Target Center.

Wolves center Naz Reid was injured last year for the playoffs, so he thoroughly enjoyed Saturday’s victory, in which he scored 12 points and was a plus-22 off the bench.

The Suns beat the Wolves three times during the regular season, including last Sunday at Target Center.

“The motivation from them beating us throughout the regular season, that motivated all of us,” Reid said. “We wanted to get that payback.”

Towns played the final two regular-season games to get ready for the playoffs after recovering from meniscus surgery. He played a bit less than 27 minutes, the fewest among Wolves starters, finishing with 19 points and seven rebounds.

The All-Star center had 13 in the first half — 7-for-7 on free throws — with five rebounds and four assists as his team gained a 61-51 edge.

“He did everything tonight, and to me, he’s still the reason we won,” Edwards said. “First half, I was nonexistent. He carried us on his back, so, yeah, thank you, KAT.”

• Former Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was among the courtside celebrities. He visited the Wolves locker room after the game and exchanged signed jerseys with Edwards. Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson was also in attendance, as were Wild players, including Kirill Kaprizov.

• Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore, the Wolves limited partners who are in an ownership battle with Glen Taylor, sat across the court from the Wolves owner.