(Bloomberg) — The world’s largest technology company, Apple Inc. Stocks rebounded ahead of earnings, and Wall Street traders were also gearing up for Friday’s key jobs report.

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Equities snapped a two-day slide, with Nvidia Corp leading gains among chipmakers and Apple up 1.5%. Wall Street, the iPhone maker’s fellow tech giant Alphabet Inc. And it expects to follow in the footsteps of Meta Platforms Inc. and announce a buyback. Any news related to artificial intelligence features could add extra excitement to the stock, which has fallen more than 10% this year.

Data showed U.S. labor costs rose by the most in a year ahead of the monthly employment report, adding to risks of rising inflation as productivity gains slowed. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast a gain of 240,000 in nonfarm payrolls, a slower pace after November.

The central bank on Wednesday decided to leave the target range for the benchmark rate at 5.25% to 5.5% following a spate of data that pointed to lingering price pressures. Jerome Powell said the Fed’s next move is to raise rates unlikely.

“While the Fed appears to have ruled out a rate hike, it has also made clear it is willing to keep rates on hold for longer,” said Chris Larkin at E*Trade from Morgan Stanley. “Markets will be hungry for any data that suggests the economy isn’t warming up more than it was in the first quarter.”

The S&P 500 was near 5,040. The Nasdaq 100 rose nearly 1%. Qualcomm Inc., the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, rose on an upbeat forecast. eBay Inc. Collapsing at the sight of disappointment. The 10-year Treasury yield fell three basis points to 4.60%. The dollar retreated.

The options market is betting that stocks will swing broadly after Friday’s U.S. jobs report, which traders expect will provide more clarity on how much the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates this year.

The S&P 500 index, based on the price of puts and calls expiring Friday, is expected to move 1.2% in either direction after the release, according to Stuart Kaiser, head of U.S. equity trading strategy at Citigroup Inc.

That figure was based on the price of the S&P straddles at Wednesday’s close, the biggest implied swing ahead of an employment report since March 2023, he said.

The story continues

Bank of America Corp.’s Savita Subramanian said that even without Fed interest rate cuts, a solid economy will sustain the bull market run in U.S. stocks.

“I think we’re headed for a soft landing, with a fair market environment, better growth than we’re used to, higher rates and a little bit more inflation,” Subramanian said on Bloomberg Television on Thursday.

Company Highlights:

• Peloton Interactive Inc. The company’s CEO Barry McCarthy said he is stepping down as the company undergoes a major restructuring that will cut its global workforce by 15% in an effort to cut costs.

• MGM Resorts International reported first-quarter sales and earnings that beat analysts’ forecasts, helped by Macau’s post-pandemic recovery and hotel room bookings.

• As the company digs into its restructuring plan and regains sales momentum, Carvana Co.

• DoorDash Inc., the largest U.S. food delivery service, delivered a disappointing profit forecast for the current quarter as the company invests in expanding its list of non-restaurant partners and improving efficiency.

• Moderna Inc. Wall Street reported a narrower-than-expected first-quarter loss as cost-cutting helped the biotech giant offset a steep decline in its Covid business.

• Apollo Global Management Inc. The company posted higher first-quarter profit as it charged higher management fees and private lending, a key area of ​​growth, hit a record $40 billion.

Highlights of this week:

• Eurozone unemployment, Friday

• US Unemployment, Non-Farm Payrolls, ISM Services, Friday

• Chicago Fed President Austin Goolsbee speaks on Friday

Some key movements in the markets:

Shares

• The S&P 500 was up 0.5% as of 12:01 p.m. New York time.

• The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.8%

• The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.5%

• The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.2%

• The MSCI world index rose 0.6%

Coins

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.6%

• The euro was little changed at $1.0706

• The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.2507

• The Japanese yen rose 0.5% to 153.84 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin rose 3.3% to $59,212.34

• Ether rose 1.7% to $2,985.99

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell three basis points to 4.60%.

• Germany’s 10-year yield fell four basis points to 2.54%

• Britain’s 10-year yield fell eight basis points to 4.29%.

materials

• West Texas Intermediate crude was down 0.6% at $78.49 a barrel.

• Spot gold was down 0.9% at $2,298.63 an ounce

This story was produced with the help of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Ryan Vlastelica and Jessica Menton.

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(Bloomberg) — Traders on Wall Street cheered Wednesday when Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signaled that he doesn't see an imminent interest rate hike despite inflationary pressures. The celebration did not last long.

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For a brief period, US stocks unleashed their biggest post-policy meeting rally since December, while Treasury yields fell more than 10 basis points in maturities. Relief trading began when Powell told reporters that “the next rate hike is unlikely.”

The problem is that Powell hasn't explicitly signaled a rate cut is coming this year either, and has said it will take a long time for central bankers to gain enough confidence in inflation's downward path. That reality check sparked a sudden reversal in equities, which ended the day lower. Treasury yields pared some of their decline, with the policy-sensitive two-year yield below the 5% range — but not much higher.

“Powell made it clear that the hurdle for hikes is incredibly high,” said Michael de Bass, global head of rates trading at Citadel Securities. “They're looking at eventually capping rates, that's undeniable. The questions now are whether they're capping enough and how long it will take to drain the economy.

The market's reaction to the idea that rate hikes may be off the table shows how much sentiment has changed since the start of the year, when the consensus called for more rate cuts and an expected steady decline in inflation. Forecasts for higher interest rates were lower.

Lately, however, investors — especially in the world of Treasuries — have had to worry about a potential hike from the Fed as the U.S. economy remains resilient, job creation runs strong and inflation remains difficult to control. Bond traders have cut their outlook for a rate cut to just over one from six quarter points in early January.

A sell-off in equities and bonds in April pushed back two-year Treasury yields by more than 5% and sent the S&P 500 index to its worst monthly loss since October, underscoring tensions building ahead of this week's Federal Open Market Committee meeting. More key data is still on deck: Friday's April jobs report is expected to show strong jobs growth, while more inflation reports are due in the coming weeks. Central bankers must weigh everything.

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“The FOMC appeared to want to keep the market from running away from its fundamentals of solid growth, sticky inflation and its intention to taper later this year,” said Citigroup Inc.'s Stuart Kaiser. strategists wrote in a note. Creation of a Federal Open Market Committee. “The result was a big round-trip trading day.”

Stocks for investors were highlighted when Powell said that while he believes current rate policy is “restrictive, and over time, it will be sufficiently restrictive,” “that's going to be a question that the data will have to answer.” “

Even as Powell acknowledged the recent lack of progress toward the Fed's 2% inflation target this year, his signal that cuts would outweigh hikes was enough to calm the market, at least initially. Whether it guarantees a steady stock boom is another matter.

Here's what Bloomberg strategists say…

“Powell: Rate cuts still on the table before year-end. Takeaway: Rates are capped, but Fed will ease if unemployment rate rises further from here. Fed has an easing bias.”

– Edward Harrison, Markets Live blog contributor

“I'm very confused trying to figure out what Powell said to cause stocks to rise so sharply,” said Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers. “Sure, he said hikes weren't needed and downplayed fears of stagnation, but that's not worth a huge speculative rally.”

As for the longevity of the recent bond relief rally, Citadel's de Bass warned that while the bounce is “meaningful,” the market is approaching its limits.

“It's already running out of steam in the market because yields are down,” he said. “The market is struggling to operate even more because we're in a data-dependent space.”

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Colombian President Gustavo Pedro (center right) attends an International Workers' Day rally in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday.

Jair F. via Getty Images Cole/Bloomberg

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Colombian President Gustavo Pedro (center right) attends an International Workers' Day rally in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday.

Jair F. via Getty Images Cole/Bloomberg

Colombia to cut diplomatic ties with Israel over its actions in Gaza

The Colombian president addressed a crowd in the capital Bogota on Wednesday Gustavo Pedro said The country said on Thursday it would “sever diplomatic ties with the State of Israel”, calling its government a “genocide”.

“If Palestine dies, humanity dies and we will not let it die,” he said.

Israel has vehemently denied committing genocide in its war against Hamas in Gaza.

“History will remember that Gustavo Pedro decided to side with the most despicable monsters known to mankind,” said the Israeli foreign minister. Israel Katz said said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Colombia is one of the United States' closest partners in Latin America, and it has previously been a close partner of Israel.

But Colombia's leftist president is one of several Latin American leaders who have been vocal against Israel since the military campaign in Gaza in retaliation for the October 7 attack on Israel led by Hamas.

Bolivia severed ties with Israel on October 31. And Nicaragua has accused Germany of violating the Genocide Convention by supplying arms and aid to Israel at the International Court of Justice. Germany denies the accusation.

A United Nations court in The Hague this week rejected Nicaragua's request to order an end to Germany's arms exports to Israel.

We're getting more information on the ongoing layoffs at Tesla. Many employees describe the situation as Elon Musk “throwing his weight around” to secure his position in a largely absent last year.

But he comes across as a dangerous wrecking ball.

Sources familiar with the matter said Electr Musk has not been in frequent attendance at Tesla since last year and his acquisition of Twitter.

That has changed over the past few weeks.

Musk is now all over Tesla, or at least, his presence is felt everywhere at Tesla.

It started two weeks ago with the first wave of layoffs. Musk announced that Tesla would be laying off about 10% of its workforce, and used his usual excuse of growing the workforce too fast, resulting in inefficient hiring through duplicate jobs.

However, when we first heard about those plans a day ago, we heard that layoffs could be closer to 20% of the workforce.

Of course, layoffs still continue.

Tesla began another wave of layoffs this week — including the entire charging system.

now, Electr Musk is also known to have destroyed Tesla's cathode material production team in Texas.

It started earlier this month with Anthony Thurston, Senior Manager of Cathode Materials & Manufacturing at Tesla, but Electr I learned that Musk is now out of most of the team.

Sources familiar with the matter describe a difficult situation at Tesla right now. Uncertainty, confusion and frustration are the main feelings around offices.

Multiple sources confirmed rumors surrounding Tesla in the automotive engineering and design fields next.

During Tesla's earnings call last week, Musk said little more about the layoffs. During this time, he said of “restructuring” the company:

We've made some corrections along the way. But it's time to restructure the organization for the next phase of growth, and you really need to restructure it.

Analysts and Tesla fans are trying to understand the logic behind some of these moves and the firing of nearly the entire charging company, some 500 people, is difficult for most people to understand.

Musk said Tesla still plans to grow the Supercharger network but will focus on existing stations:

We reported that Tesla had already backed out of the lease for the new Supercharger stations.

Sources say Tesla will have problems continuing to grow the network without Tesla's former charging chief, Rebecca Dinucci, in the system.

In the past, Tesla has rehired people it fired after realizing it couldn't do the job without them.

This raises questions about the logic behind some layoffs and their effectiveness.

Sources familiar with the matter believe some of the layoffs have nothing to do with inefficiency or restructuring, but rather Musk throwing his weight around Tesla.

Two sources say Electr DiNucci resists Musk's pressure to fire a large percentage of his team, and the CEO decides to let the entire team make an example.

In an email to executives on Sunday, Musk wrote:

“Hopefully, these actions make it clear that we need to be absolutely tough about intervention and cost-cutting. While some of the executive staff are taking this seriously, most still aren't.”

The message is clear: fire as many people as I can ask, or you and your team are gone.

Electrek's Take

This is clearly more than hiring inefficiency and restructuring. Kasturi cleans the house. He may have serious concerns about the economy and the short-term upside in Tesla's sales, but he didn't go into that on last week's earnings call.

It may be more than that. I don't know if I fully agree with the theory that Musk is getting his leadership position at Tesla, but it's a viable theory.

As I provided earlier, a vote on his compensation package becomes a vote of confidence in the CEO.

These layoffs will prove useful to him on that front. Many leaders are gone. As every leader leaves, Musk is needed at Tesla. And it didn't hurt that all these leaders unloaded their stakes that didn't vote against him.

However, this begs the question: Is this really good for Tesla?

The Supercharger team did something incredible: build the only successful and desirable fast-charging network in North America, critical to EV adoption.

Laying off an entire team just because the leader is pushing back the number of layoffs is absurd, especially if the plan is to grow the network even more. Tesla needs to grow the network as it currently connects other automakers. Even if Tesla sees its own sales decline, the Supercharger network will need an increase in capacity.

Everyone I've talked to at Tesla says it's a complete mess. The contractors for most of the ongoing supercharger projects lost their contact with Tesla. Again, many suspect that Tesla will try to rehire some of the laid-off workers.

Tesla's hiring inefficiencies lead to layoffs and layoffs leading to new hires.

It's not a good look.

I can only get behind Musk on this if Tesla's finances are literally in the dumps. That doesn't look bad right now based on the financial statements, but it's not impossible that Tesla's internal numbers, like orders coming in, look bad.

Some of this reminds me of Tesla in 2019. Things were looking pretty good, but Tesla embarked on a massive cost-cutting drive. We later learned that Tesla was on the brink of bankruptcy because it didn't anticipate how expensive mass-launching the Model 3 would be in Europe.

The long transit times put a lot of financial pressure on Tesla, and the cost-cutting effort was intended to compensate for that — something Musk hasn't communicated with shareholders since.

Maybe something similar is happening that we don't know about, but at the same time, Tesla is now sitting on $27 billion in cash in a completely different situation.

Amazon ( AMZN ) reported first-quarter earnings that topped Wall Street estimates on the top and bottom lines, sending shares of the retail giant up about 2% in premarket trading on Wednesday.

Driven by a strong showing from its cloud computing division, Amazon continued a wave of big tech decisions that largely surprised Wall Street as investors turned their attention to the conclusion of the Federal Reserve's May policy meeting on Wednesday.

Net sales rose 13% from the same period last year to $143.3 billion, Amazon reported late Tuesday, topping analysts' expectations of $142.6 billion, per Bloomberg data. The beat was driven by a 16% increase in Amazon Web Services (AWS) revenue, which Amazon said generated $100 billion annually.

The company reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.98, versus the consensus estimate of $0.83.

Like its rivals Microsoft and Alphabet, Amazon is using its strength in its cloud computing business to gain an edge in the nascent AI market. AI tools require large amounts of data and processing power to train and run large language models and their applications, relying on cloud providers to provide core infrastructure.

Amazon CFO Brian Olszowski said on a call with reporters that overall capital spending is expected to increase “meaningfully” this year through 2023, driven by higher infrastructure costs to support AWS's growth.

Amazon is seeing strong demand on the AWS side, with customers signing up for long contracts with large commitments, with many buildable AI components, he said.

Advertising was another strong contributor to Q1 revenue growth. The company matched analyst expectations of $11.8 billion, up 24% from the same period last year.

Even as Amazon dazzled with growth across its businesses, its outlook revealed few signs of a pullback in consumer spending.

“What we're seeing is a continuation of what we've said in previous quarters. Customers in the U.S. are being more careful about their spending. They're looking for deals. They're shopping around,” Olsavsky said. “That trend continues in Q2.”

Amazon forecast Q2 net sales to come in between $144 billion and $149 billion, slightly below the analyst estimate of $150.2 billion, per Bloomberg data.

Amazon's report came a week after its cloud and AI rival Microsoft ( MSFT ) posted an impressive quarter that beat expectations on the strength of its cloud computing business. The market cheered even louder for results from Google parent Alphabet ( GOOG , GOOGL ), which performed well on the top and bottom lines and came out with a new dividend announcement.

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Amazon, which has positioned itself on the AI ​​front, is another player competing to claim market share and launch new consumer services. In March, Amazon increased its investment in AI startup Anthropic, pouring in another $2.75 billion, bringing its investment total to $4 billion.

Amazon stock, which tied with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) in February, is up about 20% for the year.

Hamza Shaban is a correspondent for Yahoo Finance, covering markets and economics. Follow Hamza on Twitter @hshaban.

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NEW YORK (AP) — Columbia University promised to evict protesters occupying a building on the grounds of the New York college on Tuesday, as universities across the country intensified campus protests. Israel-Hamas war.

More than 1,000 protesters have been arrested in recent days at campuses in states including Texas, Utah, Virginia, North Carolina, New Mexico, Connecticut, Louisiana, California and New Jersey.

The White House condemned the clashes at Columbia and California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, where protesters occupied two buildings and authorities intervened overnight, arresting 25 people. Officials estimate total damage to the Northern California campus at more than $1 million.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said President Joe Biden called the students' occupation of the academic building “absolutely the wrong approach” and “not an example of peaceful protest.”

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that the Columbia protests were “co-opted by agitators outside the industry.” The mayor did not provide specific evidence to support that contention, which was disputed by protest organizers and participants.

“Now step away from this situation and pursue your argument in other ways,” Adams advised the protesters. “This has to end now.”

Other colleges tried to negotiate deals with the protesters in hopes of holding peaceful commencement ceremonies. as Armistice negotiations Appearing to gain steam, it was unclear whether the talks would prompt an easing of protests.

Northwestern University scored a rare victory when officials said it reached a compromise with students and faculty representing the majority of protesters on its campus near Chicago to allow peaceful demonstrations at the end of spring classes.

After Hamas launched a deadly attack on southern Israel on October 7, nationwide campus protests began in Colombia in response to Israel's attack on Gaza. Militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took about 250 hostages. Israel, which has vowed to eradicate Hamas, has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the local health ministry.

Israel and its supporters have labeled the university protests as anti-Semitic, while Israel's critics say the accusations are used to silence dissent. Although some protesters were caught on camera making anti-Semitic comments or threatening violence, organizers of the protest, some of whom are Jewish, say it is a peaceful movement aimed at defending Palestinian rights and opposing the war.

On Columbia's campus, protesters locked arms early Tuesday and moved furniture and metal barricades to Hamilton Hall, among several buildings. were occupied 1968 During the Civil Rights and Vietnam War protests. Demonstrators called the building Hinds Hall in honor of a young woman killed by Israeli fire in Gaza.

Despite the chaos overnight, NYPD brass said officers will not enter Columbia's campus without a request from college administration or an immediate emergency.

The protesters surrendered and were taken over a few hours later An earlier ultimatum Abandonment or suspension from Monday Tent Camp – Banned from all academic and recreational spaces, only allowed to enter their residence halls, and seniors are ineligible to graduate.

Mahmoud Khalil, a lead negotiator, was among the suspended students before talks with the administration broke down over the weekend. In his suspension letter — which he shared with The Associated Press — Khalil said he refused to leave the camp after prior warnings but complied with the university's request to vacate the camp on the campus lawn by a Monday afternoon deadline.

Columbia spokesman Ben Chang said in a statement that anyone occupying Hamilton Hall risks being kicked out of the university for “an unacceptable situation — vandalizing property, breaking doors and windows and blocking entrances.”

The Occupy protesters insisted they would remain in Hamilton Hall until the university agreed to three demands. Exclusion, financial transparency and amnesty.

Good pictures

Updated with revised SkyDance offer details: Skydance's offer to Paramount, which Deadline has learned is its last and final, involves a sweet $3 billion cash infusion — at least $1 billion previously thought to be a priority for Paramount to have enough cash on its balance sheet for investment-grade status with major rating agencies.

The deal also includes a premium sweetening of one percent of non-voting Class B shares, though the details are unclear. Shari Redstone will take an unspecified haircut compared to the initial contract terms below. Paramount plans an all-stock acquisition of Skydance as the second step in the transaction, which would be valued at approximately $5 billion.

It's not clear what happens to some of the other Class A shareholders beyond Redstone, but most hold B shares, as does Mario Capelli. Class A stock has voting rights (and Redstone owns the majority of them). There is no more common Class B stock.

NAI, Redstone's family holding company, demanded a revised Skydance offer that included more equal treatment for shareholders beyond Shari Redstone after investors raised an uproar. A person familiar with the new offer says it meets and exceeds all NAI's demands.

Investors are not yet expecting a wholesale takeover of Paramount by Sony and Apollo because Redstone doesn't want to break up the company, the person said. That deal could be dragged down by regulatory issues.

Representatives for Redstone/NAI and Paramount's special committee of directors evaluating the deal were not immediately available for comment.

Before: David Ellison's Skydance has made a revised offer to take control of the company to a special committee of Paramount Global's board, Deadline has learned. Terms are not immediately available, story will be updated when they are. The new plan is designed to make a deal more palatable to Paramount investors beyond controlling shareholder Shari Redstone, which his family firm NAI had sought.

Redstone controls Paramount through NAI or National Amusements.

The offer is the best and last-minute, one-month exclusive negotiating window between the two sides that ends on May 3, though it could be extended. The departure of Paramount CEO Bob Bakish comes amid the Bakish watch, which is expected to be announced today, with three division heads now set to replace him. The news was expected before the market opened this morning, but was delayed, and it's not clear why, but it's complicated.

Paramount has two classes of shares. Skydance initially offered to buy Redstone's controlling Class A voting shares and certain other assets for about $2 billion. Paramount would later buy Skydance in an all-stock deal valued at $4-$5 billion. Bar will be a publicly traded company. Skydance will inject new capital into Paramount, which is welcome given its heavy debt load.

Most investors own non-voting Class B shares and have been publicly and privately trashing the deal for months. $2 billion is the best price for Redstone's stock, meaning a premium buyout for her but not for them. The issuance of new shares to merge Skydance will dilute their holdings. Investors have threatened to sue. Some, like Mari Capelli, hold voting shares, but the deal will still be done over their heads.

Whether or not the shareholders had concrete legal cases, the lawsuits were not welcome and the level of dissatisfaction was sufficient for NAI to demand revised contract terms.

It is almost impossible for any offer to satisfy everyone, the investor said. This includes skydance boning to oust other Class A shareholders, but B holders may still be angry about that. Skydance may take some small percentage of B shares for a premium. Agree to put a lower dollar figure on the link. But a joint offer by Sony and private equity firm Apollo — which would buy out all shareholders and take the company private — is the only way to stop the clamor. The partners are yet to make a formal offer and Skydance is awaiting the outcome of negotiations. Redstone doesn't seem to like the option, which is said to be around $26 billion, but they could be reduced in due diligence if both parties go that far.

Adding to the drama, Paramount will report its latest quarterly earnings after the market closes today. CEOs typically hold calls with the analyst community after the numbers. Bakish didn't expect it. A lot more to come…

Phoenix – Finally, the Phoenix Suns made significant changes to both their power levels and program. The Minnesota Timberwolves went 0-3 only to set up Game 4 at the center.

It was too little and too late, but the question was whether it would be enough to at least stay alive.

Devin Booker and Kevin Durant combined for 82 points, though. Phoenix fell 122-116, considering where they started in the Big Three's first year after a season of easily titled failure.

When counted too much, the phoenix withered. Down 113-111 with three minutes to play, a beautiful offensive possession saw Durant post touch and the ball swing through each player to the other side of the court, but Bradley Beal's drive bounced off the opposite corner and cross court. Durant intercepted.

At the other end, D-Wolves star Anthony Edwards slugged it out, got past Beal and tomahawked over the Help defense to put Minnesota up by four.

Beal was fouled immediately after finishing with nine points on 4-of-13 shooting, and six turnovers. He and Jusup Nurkic are the third-highest scorers for Phoenix.

“Anytime you get into foul trouble, I think it disrupts the rhythm of your whole game,” Suns coach Frank Vogel said.

The Suns at least gave themselves a chance for the first time in the abbreviated series. They turned their defensive physicality to 10 on the dial to hold the T-Wolves to 38% shooting in the first half. They had to learn that they avoided matching Minnesota's size in exchange for court-spacing and speed.

They got the expected help from Booker (49 points) and Durant (33). It was Booker's eighth playoff game with 40 or more points as he tied the game for the fourth time in his playoff career.

But for Minnesota, Karl-Anthony Towns and Edwards did everything to meet their opponents with 28 and 40 points, respectively.

Eric Gordon was first mate on the Phoenix bench – to center Jusuf Nurkic.

Josh Okogie was the second baseman to create a small-ball, 5-out sequence, and he finished the score easily on a rim-roll after setting a high screen as he entered. It was a reward for playing well in what seemed like short minutes at the end of Game 3.

Gordon was heavily used, but the eighth man for the night was Nasir Little. He started the second quarter and was promptly scored by Rudy Gobert and then Karl-Anthony Towns.

Although Phoenix was hammered on the offensive glass, Frank Vogel's team felt for the first time in the series that it had at least dictated the terms and set the tone for a game.

“We tried to look at something different. There's a proven formula to try to expose or land Rudy Gobert,” Vogel said, admitting he's not a fan of going so small.

That momentum led to a 10-7 second chance point deficit and a 61-56 lead at halftime.

Despite allowing 16 offensive rebounds at the end of the game, the Suns lost the second-chance point battle by two, 17-15.

Even when center Jusuf Nurkic resurfaced in the second quarter, the Suns had something of a rhythm. Twice pushed up court, Nurkic caught the ball high on the left wing in Kevin Durant's corner, and twice Nurkic beat Durant, who made a triple-handoff and pocket catch for an easy dunk with the D-Wolves knot. Return to security to assist.

Phoenix also limited its turnovers, 11 for the game.

To cap the momentum, Phoenix scored 23 points off nine Minnesota turnovers.

But despite the good changes, Booker and Durant attended the elimination game, and Minnesota snuck up. The Suns never led by more than six points.

Follow @kzimmermanaz