ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — Two nights after defeating the Wizards, the Golden State Warriors (63-14) were back at home to face the MInnesota Timberwolves (31-45).
The Warriors were without Kevon Looney (left hip strain), Kevin Durant (left knee MCL sprain, left tibial bone bruise), and Damian Jones (D-League assignment).
Q1: JaVale Altercation Halts Rhythm
Klay Thompson started off with a steal, then a three-pointer, but both teams struggled to score after that, until Thompson added a jumper from the left wing, then Draymond Green read and intercepted a lob inside, the ball going out of bounds to the Warriors.
Stephen Curry took the inbound and darted a touchdown pass to Matt Barnes — who started in place of Patrick McCaw — and Barnes drilled a three from the left corner.
Ricky Rubio missed a dribble-and-pop against Barnes, and Curry found Barnes again for a touchdown, forcing Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau to call timeout as Golden State jumped out to an early 12-7 lead with 7:01 remaining.
Minnesota then went on a 10-1 run as Steph missed a free throw, Karl-Anthony Towns converted a nice spin into the lane, Curry got stripped with no call, Klay made a bad pull from the right wing with no one underneath and two guys on him, and Gorgui Dieng hit a jumper in transition, giving the Wolves a 17-13 lead with 5:04 remaining.
However, Steph hit the half-court shot after the whistle, which obviously didn’t count:
[protected-iframe id=”437119b5f50ea1dc98796f54b842413d-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FNBA%2Fstatus%2F849457555587964928″ width=”360″ height=”250″ frameborder=”0″]Thompson drew two trips to the line, Green gave JaVale McGee a finger-roll lob, Curry pulled up over Dieng…
[protected-iframe id=”a3518a0f393168d9662095a922b26875-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FJaeAzizi%2Fstatus%2F849457003802107904″ width=”360″ height=”360″ frameborder=”0″]…then after a Rubio one-legged runner, showed ball on the drive and scooped it in:
[protected-iframe id=”b0a973c3810b0568345e7d71bc1aaedd-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FJaeAzizi%2Fstatus%2F849457550194094080″ width=”360″ height=”360″ frameborder=”0″] [protected-iframe id=”976d51010a3abd3660fa32858208882d-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FKNBR%2Fstatus%2F849457576274219008″ width=”360″ height=”250″ frameborder=”0″]Later, McGee swatted Dieng, Draymond found JaVale for another dunk on a laser pass inside, Barnes found Andre Iguodala on the break for a finger roll, then Dieng and McGee got into it:
[protected-iframe id=”9d5e1f14bc0b2320c6ee238929d4403a-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fgifdsports%2Fstatus%2F849458504159113216″ width=”360″ height=”250″ frameborder=”0″]The referees got to the scene too late, although one of them boxed out McGee:
[protected-iframe id=”aba5f84cb7378b412f0cddf841c35b42-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FJaeAzizi%2Fstatus%2F849471565112774657″ width=”360″ height=”250″ frameborder=”0″]After the play was reviewed, JaVale was assess a Flagrant 1 foul and both Dieng and McGee an additional technical, and JaVale couldn’t believe it:
[protected-iframe id=”fbe9c0c1ab58cac9a50ade4a8fe7ef4b-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FTaylor_Purpura%2Fstatus%2F849459586910343169″ width=”360″ height=”720″ frameborder=”0″]Andrew Wiggins closed out the quarter with an impressive scoop, and-one against Barnes, and that tied the game at 32-32 heading into the second stanza.
Q2: Klay Stays Hot
The Warriors’ second unit got some separation to start the second period as David West scored inside, Ian Clark splashed a three assisted by Iguodala, and Iguodala drilled one as well on the catch, prompting Thibodeau to call timeout with 9:27 as Golden State inched out to a 42-35 lead.
West later added a touchdown pass to Barnes for a layup after stealing back a ball that the Warriors turned over.
West then lobbed a perfect pass inside to a cutting Clark, Clark missed a jumper back-iron but chased down his own rebound and fed Klay for three from the top, but Shabazz Muhammad answered with an and-one on Iguodala, helped by Draymond, but Green came back with a swat of Towns at the other end.
Later, Green almost had a thunderous dunk down the lane, but was fouled by Muhammad and went to the line, then Curry made an exquisite steal of Wiggins tracking down a loose ball, saved the ball behind-the-back from the sideline to Shaun Livingston, who then outlet up to Patrick McCaw for the easy deuce ahead of the defense in transition:
[protected-iframe id=”324269a338463c4363355abc79215044-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FJaeAzizi%2Fstatus%2F849465474752679936″ width=”550″ height=”250″ frameborder=”0″]Rubio made an incredible one-legged rattling jumper, plus the foul, but West found Green for a two-hand dunk, sneaking down the right baseline.
Out of the timeout, Livingston made a bad pass that Wiggins easily stole, and compounded the mistake by fouling Wiggins on the break, for the Timberwolves’ fourth and-one of the night, and MInnesota pulled to within 57-54 with 4:17 to go.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr called timeout, Draymond drove in and found Klay in the left corner for three, but Steph got his attack swatted by Towns, then missed an open three enabled by a nice Zaza Pachulia pick.
Out of the timeout, Iguodala found Thompson in the same corner on a cross-court find, but Curry got sloppy with the ball, trying to pass back to Green with a behind-the-back pass that had no chance of reaching him with Towns in the way, but Steph and Draymond connected with a pick-and-roll leading to a layup down the lane for Green.
After a Wiggins miss, Curry threw a bounce pass straight to Wiggins after dissecting the Wolves’ defense, yet finding no cutters. Rubio ended the sequence with a long two from the left wing.
But Steph pushed the ball and stealthily flung a zinger pass to Klay on the left arc, and Thompson finished with a splash, his 23rd point while going 5-for-8 from downtown, giving the Warriors a 68-60 lead heading into halftime.
Durant celebrated early and headed into the tunnel:
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(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @beckybingphoto)
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