Between the Wolves and the Suns, Charles Barkley was rooting for his old team. But he was not cranky about the Suns getting swept in the first round. He was praising both teams after Game 4 ended 122-116 in favor of the Minnesota Timberwolves. While Anthony Edwards and his team advance, Barkley comforted his precious Phoenix squad and their star, Kevin Durant.

“I was totally surprised they swept my Suns,” Barkley said. But also pointed out that the Phoenix had a few disadvantages entering the playoffs. He called the Wolves’ win a “Great win over a mediocre Suns team.” Given that the Suns don’t have a backup to KD, Book, and Beal, he said “It was an easy matchup for those guys,” aka the Wolves.

As Barkley said, Bradley Beal wasn’t playing tonight. Devin Booker was the game’s leading scorer with 49 points. Durant was also impressive with 33 points on his own. However, their teammates couldn’t share the load when Anthony Edwards exploded in the second half. He made 31 of his 40 points after halftime which Phoenix couldn’t counter.

Barkley also said that Durant shouldn’t have been kept in the game so long but that’s inevitable when, as the Inside Guys have said a few times this season, “they don’t have a bench.” Hence, according to him, the shorthanded Suns were easy to defeat. As much as he wished the Suns would make a comeback, Chuck had come to terms with his team losing.

Chuck resigned to sinking Suns

When the series was 2-0 with the future looking bleak for Phoenix, Barkley mourned, “My Suns are in trouble.” But he said the time to fix the flaws on their roster passed with the trade deadline. Without a point guard on the team and the scoring load on the Durant, Booker, and Beal collective, Phoenix’s point guard problem became glaring in the playoffs.

In contrast, Barkley sees a balanced roster in the Wolves led by their star, Anthony Edwards. Chuck is leaning into the Ant-Michael Jordan comparisons because he displays basketball IQ far beyond his age and experience. He also sees leadership quality in the youngster. (Remember how he said Durant is not a leader?)

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Since he was resigned to his team going, Barkley turned to humor to send the Suns ‘fishin’ TNT style. An ode to Chuck’s old bus driver comment at KD, instead of boat, the Suns were sent off on a bus. The witty TNT editor also added Chuck and Shaq throwbacks to their Suns eras. Barkley will go back to rooting for the Suns after they return from their fishing trip for the next season. Right now, Anthony Edwards and the Wolves have his attention.