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John Voita of SB Nation’s Bright Side of the Sun offers his view of Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns and the Wolves/Suns first round series in the Western Conference Playoffs.

Before the No. 3 seed Minnesota Timberwolves and No. 6 seed Phoenix Suns kick off their first-round series on Saturday, Canis Hoopus reached out to our SB Nation brother site — Bright Side of the Sun — to get a different perspective on what should be one of, if not the most compelling opening round matchups in the Western Conference Playoffs.

Thanks to Bright Side’s Site Manager and Editor-In-Chief John Voita for lending his time to us! We asked John five questions about the upcoming clash that should give Wolves fans a better understanding of what the series looks like from the other side of the matchup.

(Editor’s Note: this Q&A has been lightly edited for clarity)

1) What scares you most about the Round 1 matchup with the Timberwolves?

John Voita: The obvious answer is the Timberwolves’ defensive capabilities. They are a team that possesses both size and athleticism, which can clog passing lanes and generate turnovers. Fun fact: the Suns are elite at turning the ball over, especially in live ball situations. It’s been a storyline throughout the season that has driven us mad.

The thing that keeps me up at night is the Anthony Edwards factor. He’s young, and while he doesn’t have much postseason experience, he is a star waiting for a stage upon which to perform. My hope is he doesn’t go nuclear in this series at our expense, because we’re known to let that happen.

2) What excites you the most about the Round 1 matchup with the Timberwolves?

JV: Our regular season record against Minnesota gives one confidence, but it is the manner in which the Suns performed that makes this a desirable matchup. The Suns sputtered through the season like an engine missing a spark plug. Timing was off, the ‘check engine’ light was always on, and we never knew exactly why.

Unless we played the Timberwolves.

In those games, Phoenix played complete basketball on both ends of the floor. Despite facing the best defense in the league, the Suns could always score, and the Suns’ firepower will be hard for the Wolves to match.

I’m not going to lie, I do like going up against Karl-Anthony Towns in a series, especially as the team is in the process of attempting to reintegrate him. Watching from afar for nine years, he makes some bone-headed low IQ basketball plays that typically work in our favor. Now that I’ve said this, however, he’ll shoot 45% from 3 and average 29 points in the series.

3) Which matchup do the Suns need to win in order to win the series?

(Examples: Towns vs. Durant, 3-point shooting, turnovers, etc.)

JV: The center position is our greatest weakness, and with a player like Rudy Gobert, it can be exploited. Jusuf Nurkić is foul-happy, so if he gets into foul trouble, our depth will be tested. If Suns Head Coach Frank Vogel chooses to go with the small-ball 5 approach, we’ll be fine offensively as we pull Rudy away from the cylinder and exploit the mismatches. Defensively? That will be a different issue.

I return to Edwards. How Phoenix chooses to defend him will be key. Bradley Beal did a stellar job in the last two games against him. Beal held him to 20% shooting and forced a pair of turnovers. The former Florida star is the only player who can come near the intensity that Edwards plays with, so guarding the young star and watching Beal play mind games with Ant will be key to this series.

4) Wolves fans are somewhat divided on how (and if) Towns can find success in this series. If you were KAT, how would you attack the Suns defense?

Oh, KAT. As I mentioned earlier, I’m highly intrigued to see how he performs. This isn’t a good matchup for him defensively, but offensively he’ll find his fair share of open 3-pointers.

Phoenix has had issues with collapsing their defense and leaving shooters open throughout the season. They’ve allowed their opponent to hit 15 or more threes 30 times this year.

KAT is working his way back from a leg injury, so he may find success setting up a camping spot in the corner and dropping bombs on the Suns.

5) When the Suns lose games at full strength, what are the most common reasons why?

Their season-long fourth quarter woes are historic, but they’ve played much better in the closing period in April. I am not concerned with that. It’s the Suns’ turnovers and attitude.

This team possesses one of the best collections of top-tier talent in the NBA. President of Basketball Operations James Jones has done a great job filling out the fringes as well, trading for Grayson Allen (who led the league in 3-point shooting) and Royce O’Neale, as well as signing Eric Gordon on a two-year, $6 million contract last summer. They always have the talent.

The problem with the Suns? They play like they know it. They play like they are better than they are. They play like they can turn a switch on at any time. It’s a dangerous game and too often they get in their own way. They become complacent, start playing sloppy, and opposing teams take advantage of it.