So Rambis felt pretty good Sunday night, even as his young team learned a hard lesson from the Phoenix Suns, who showed them what a veteran, well-schooled team does in a 120-112 victory at U.S. Airways Center.

The Timberwolves played well enough for a young team learning the ropes, and still were no match for Phoenix. Channing Frye made 6 of 10 shots from three-point range, and Steve Nash had 14 points and 14 assists as the Suns improved to 3-0, but picking a Suns star of the game would be difficult.

Grant Hill scored big transition baskets early and hit a late three-pointer to hold off a late Minnesota run, finishing with 23 points. Amare Stoudemire played big inside and finished 19 points and eight rebounds. Jason Richardson did it all, scoring on drives, on fast breaks and from the three-point line (4 for 6) to finish with 23 points.

When the Suns had a transition opportunity, they ran hard. When they needed something inside, they muscled in. When they needed to create, they drove. And yet there were the Timberwolves , pulling to within 110-105 with 3:39 left on a basket by Ryan Hollins.

Hill answered immediately with a three-pointer from the baseline to keep Minnesota at arm's length.

"That was the difference," said Timberwolves center Al Jefferson, who had his best game of the young season with 21 points and eight rebounds. Ryan Gomes, moving from power forward to small forward for the first time this season, led the way with 23 points and 15 rebounds.

"We played pretty well overall, I think, but the object, of course, is to win," Gomes said.

Three games into the NBA season, the Timberwolves are 1-2, but they're proving to be quick learners, playing their best game so far in Rambis' triangle offense. So pleased was the coach that he just about applauded when Gomes threw a pass out of bounds late in the fourth quarter.

The play pretty much ended Minnesota's comeback bid, but it was a small victory for a coach trying to get his team to move the ball more.

And for now, those small victories might have to be enough.

"We stayed in it," said Wolves off-guard Corey Brewer, who scored a career-high 19 points. "At the end of the game, if we knocked down a couple of shots, we're right in it. We're young, but we're learning this offense pretty well right now. I feel like once we learn this offense, we'll be tougher.

"Right now we're learning our jobs. If we stay in games, we can win some."

This is the kind of optimism that reigns early in a season; the trick will be staying fresh-faced and wide-eyed in January, when the learning experiences, and losses, really pile up.

"We're going to play up and down all year. I just don't think it's going to be a smooth, upward transition," Rambis said. "Guys are going to be learning the league, and they're going to go through some struggles -- about playing time and different issues.

"The mark of a professional is someone who can deliver night in and night out; anyone can go out and have a good game every once in while. That just doesn't happen with young players and young teams, so we'll go up and down."

This is reality, and Rambis seems to be ready for it.

"If they're playing hard," he said, "the knowledge will come, the experience will come."