The Minnesota Timberwolves travel to Arizona to play the Phoenix Suns at Talking Stick Resort Arena on Monday.

The Timberwolves (10-12) come into this matchup losing four-straight games and it's really no surprise when you see that they're in the middle of a road trip. What's really disturbing is the nature of the losses. with many of them coming in devastating fashion. Numerous mistakes at the end on Friday gave them an overtime defeat against the Oklahoma City Thunder and then they narrowly lost to the Lakers on Sunday. That says a lot about where this team is at though, as they have plenty of talent to compete but not enough to win consistently. Fans have to be encouraged by the development of their youngsters though, with Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns both playing at an All-Star level this season. That was supposed to be the core for a while now and it's awesome to see them finally living up to their potential.

The Suns (10-12) have been slumping as well, losing eight of their last 11 games heading into this matchup. That's severely disappointing with the way they looked early on and it's going to be an uphill battle to reach the postseason at this point. The one bit of good news is that DeAndre Ayton is in the second half of his suspension and should be ready to return to action in less than a month. His return would be a welcomed sight, especially with Aron Baynes dealing with a ton of injuries recently. Once he's back at full force, maybe this club can return to the early-season form that had them talking about a potential playoff berth.

Phoenix won the one meeting between these teams, 100-98, on November 23. Prior to that, the Timberwolves won eight of their previous 11 games over the Suns.