Julius Randle had a winning return to the Timberwolves’ lineup on Sunday in Phoenix after missing Minnesota’s last month of action.

Minnesota downed the Suns 116-98 in Phoenix, outscoring the Suns by 20 in the second half after trailing by two at the break.

Randle finished with 20 points and six rebounds.

He also played a major role in the sequence of the night. With the Wolves up by 13 early in the fourth frame, leaped up to save a Timberwolves miss that was sailing out of bounds and threw it back to a teammate. He was rewarded for his effort moments later, getting fed for an easy dunk under the hoop.

Jaden McDaniels stole the ensuing Phoenix inbound pass and laid it in to expand the Minnesota advantage to 17. Phoenix called timeout as the Timberwolves bench ran out onto the floor to celebrate.

It was that kind of night, and that kind of matchup between these two teams.

Minnesota has beaten Phoenix in seven straight meetings dating back to Game 1 of last year’s first-round series. The Wolves have won the second half of each of those contests by double digits. Sunday followed the same script. Minnesota is simply too much for Phoenix (28-33), who is quickly fading from the Western Conference postseason picture.

Anthony Edwards led the Wolves with 44 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Donte DiVincenzo buried eight triples on a night where the Wolves hit 41 percent of their triples.

Randle suffered a groin strain at the end of January, and then ESPN insider Shams Charania reported the forward was away from the team for the last week “tending to a family matter.” The Wolves went 5-8 in his 13-game absence. The Wolves entered Sunday’s game as losers of six of their past eight games.

While drawing the ire of the local fan base for much of the season, Randle’s importance has been largely validated over the last month. There have been games in his absence — particularly against downtrodden teams like Washington and Utah — that Minnesota (33-29) likely would have won with the additional production of a forward who consistently puts up 20 points and five-plus assists.

More of those contests are on the horizon with Minnesota’s schedule softening significantly in its upcoming stretch.

Plus, Minnesota was playing well when Randle went down with the injury. The game he exited against Utah marked Minnesota’s fifth straight victory. Randle and the Wolves had seemingly found a way to mesh his abilities with the rest of the roster. That often included Randle playing in lineups that included more reserves, which allowed him minutes to push the pace and serve as a focal point of the team’s attack.

Randle’s return is especially beneficial for Minnesota given the Wolves’ depleted front court. Rudy Gobert was out again Sunday. The center has yet to play a game post all-star break due to back spasms. The Wolves have been rolling out small-ball lineups featuring Naz Reid at the center position and Jaden McDaniels at power forward. While those combinations are intriguing, they haven’t proven fruitful to Minnesota’s overall record.

The duo of Randle and Reid still represents a small big-man combo, but combining those two with McDaniels at the small forward spot gives Minnesota some legitimate size up front. That was Minnesota’s starting front court on Sunday.

The Wolves entered Sunday’s action in ninth-place in the Western Conference, and must turn the tide quickly if they’re to work their way into the top six of the standings by season’s end to avoid the play-in tournament.

Edwards also returned to action Sunday following his one-game suspension served for accruing 16 technical fouls over the weekend. Edwards was also fined $35,000 by the NBA for throwing the ball into the stands after he was ejected in Thursday’s loss to the Lakers.

With DiVincenzo playing his third consecutive game Sunday, the Wolves are now nearing full health just in time to make a potential playoff push.