The Golden State Warriors (9-0) were at Target Center in Minneapolis, MN, to face the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Warriors were trying to become only the fourth reigning champion to start their season 10-0.
The Warriors were without Leandro Barbosa due to a family issue and the Timberwolves were without Ricky Rubio (hamstring) and Nikola Pekovic (Achilles).
Kevin Garnett got the start tonight ahead of Adreian Payne, who had started two nights before.
1st Quarter – Chef Curry Stirs Pot Early
On a nationally televised game (TNT), Stephen Curry picked up right where he left off last night, stealing an entry pass attempt to rookie center Karl-Anthony Towns in the left corner, then taking the ball upcourt and draining a three from the deep left wing in transition:
Steph shot this from North Dakota. pic.twitter.com/y6w2krKANq
— KNBR (@KNBR) November 13, 2015
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On the next play, Curry jumped a pass up top from Kevin Garnett to Tayshaun Prince on the wing and was in a footrace with Garnett, pulled up this time from the deep right wing, and drew a shooting foul on another three-point attempt.
Curry made all three free throws, the Timberwolves finally got on the board when Garnett got an offensive rebound from a late-shotclock three attempt by Towns, passing to a cutting Zach LaVine, but Curry took the inbound from LaVine’s bucket and drilled another trey from the left side to make it 13-2 with still 9:48 to play.
Festus Ezeli got in on the action, dunking home with two hands a Curry lefty banker down the lane that went too hard off glass, following that up with a righty jump hook, then finding Steph wide open in the left corner, thanks to a stealth screen by Klay Thompson.
Curry was so open that he took an extra dribble before swishing the corner three:
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That put the Warriors up, 22-10, and Timberwolves head coach Sam Mitchell took a timeout with 6:44 remaining.
The Warriors’ starters were playing so well that interim head coach Luke Walton kept all the starters in when usually Andre Iguodala subs in for Harrison Barnes.
Out of the timeout, Thompson took two early shots, the second of which was a three, while Tayshaun Prince hit a jumper and got a putback.
But Ezeli killed the Wolves’ momentum as Draymond Green drove down the right side and lobbed to Festus for a two-hand smash, giving Golden State a double-digit lead again, 24-14, with 5:28 to go:
Draymond Green can guard four positions and play point guard: pic.twitter.com/3vVehek7TQ
— KNBR (@KNBR) November 13, 2015
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After a crafty Towns lefty hook over Ezeli, but after an Andrew Wiggins missed jumper, Green outlet to Curry and Steph was off to the races with two Minnesota players running back.
Curry made a quick move and pulled up from about 17 feet from the right wing, swishing it through with a demoralizing in-transition jumper:
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Iguodala checked in and added a three from the right side, the Timberwolves called another timeout, and Golden State jumped out to a 33-17 lead with 2:55 remaining, shooting 4-for-9 from beyond the arc, 12-for-19 overall (63%), with zero turnovers. Green collected 3 assists up through that point.
But the Warriors weren’t done, and neither was Curry, as Steph added a layup, then a trey from a dribble-pitch by Iguodala on the last possession, and Golden State took a commanding 40-27 lead after one period of play:
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Curry amassed 21 points, 6-for-9 from the field, 4-for-5 from downtown, to go along with 3 assists and 2 steals.
2nd Quarter: Dunks And Threes
Ian Clark, in for the injured Barbosa, started out the second quarter with two triples, but the Timberwolves fought back as Kevin Martin scored 4 straight free throws, then Shabazz Muhammad scored the next 11 points for Minnesota.
Part of that outburst helped the Timberwolves go on a 12-0 run, closing to within 50-43, as Iguodala and Shaun Livingston missed jumpers, while Andrew Bogut and Barnes committed turnovers.
Curry checked back in at the 7:07 mark.
Livingston got this dunk from a creative pass from Curry to Green:
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That started a barrage of dunks (and threes) from the Warriors, while the Wolves only got two field goals to close out the half, a three by Wiggins and a layup by Muhammad.
Thompson hit two triples…
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…Curry got a floater, Ezeli got two dunks, Green even got an alley-oop finish, and Bogut had this smash:
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Curry added a layup before the buzzer with 0.4 seconds remaining and the Warriors took a 75-63 lead:
Steph Curry goes way up to score his 25th point of the first half: pic.twitter.com/Bhxy4CVVWL
— KNBR (@KNBR) November 13, 2015
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A couple more replays from the arena:
#StephCurry (? via sullybranke15 on IG) pic.twitter.com/l22pydKcDZ
— LetsGoWarriors (@LetsGoWarriors) November 13, 2015
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? (? via jimfkennedy on IG) pic.twitter.com/aSg9pdQFJv
— LetsGoWarriors (@LetsGoWarriors) November 13, 2015
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(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @boblabee)
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