Two nights after losing to the Spurs on a nationally televised game, the Golden State Warriors (62-7) were in chilly Minneapolis at the Target Center to face the Minnesota Timberwolves (22-47).
The Warriors were without Andrew Bogut (toe), and Andre Iguodala (ankle), Festus Ezeli (knee surgery), and Kevon Looney (hip) all did not make the roadtrip, which is on its third and final destination.
The Timberwolves were without Nemanja Bjelica (foot), Kevin Garnett (knee), and Nikola Pekovic (ankle).
1st Quarter – SplashBrothers Continue To Struggle
With Bogut and Ezeli out and the size of the Wolves in the persona of Gorgui Dieng and Karl Anthony Towns upfront, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr opted for James McAdoo at the start at center.
The SplashBrothers continued their shooting struggles out of the gate, but McAdoo was a breath of fresh air, getting a trailing layup fed by Draymond Green after Ricky Rubio lost the ball and Klay Thompson outlet to Stephen Curry to start the transition.
Klay did hit his first three following a steal by Curry on bad pass by Towns, but he missed multiple layups, including an emphatic swat by Dieng.
Thompson also committed a bad turnover by getting caught up in the air while driving baseline and throwing away a pass up top to Draymond, which Zach Lavine finished with authority:
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Meanwhile, Towns showed off his versatility with a variety of buckets, including a three-pointer. Steph then missed two threes in a row and at the 6:00 mark, the game was tied, 12-12.
Curry tried to get to the rim, but his high-off-board scoop against the pogo stick Dieng and Steph and Klay were a combined 2-for-9 early.
Curry then got this beautiful crossover-stepback over a switched Towns…
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…and Harrison Barnes made a great upfake on Towns, then took big steps toward the rim and finger rolled the ball in, but Andrew Wiggins came alive and got two dribble-and-pops, a three-pointer, and free throws.
Wiggins also made contact on a spin by Steph and a drive to the hole with no call, and Kerr got a technical arguing with the refs about it.
Ricky Rubio hit a trey, Green got a transition layup to answer, but Towns answered back and the Wolves kept the Warriors at bay, 29-23, with 1:59 remaining.
Golden State had a couple fast breaks foiled by the shotclock buzzer, the second of which was a Shaun Livingston deflection of a Shabazz Muhammad trey, plus a gorgeous tap-outlet on the loose ball up in the air by Draymond at the buzzer, only to have the momentum stopped by the officials, who ruled that there was no possession yet as the shotclock expired.
But Livingston swished a jumper from the right jumper, after Speights couldn’t corral Livingston’s back pass but still managed to get it back to Livingston.
Steph managed to take the last shot at the buzzer but it was a badly missed heave from the beyond the arc on Curry’s pickup of a loose ball that squirted out.
The first quarter ended with the Wolves up, 29-27.
2nd Quarter – Bench Unit Solid, Mini-Momentum
Speights, Livingston, and Leandro Barbosa did well off the bench, with Speights hitting his first shot as usual, and the trio combining for a whopping 17 points, but Towns and Wiggins continued to make buckets.
After Anderson Varejao came in and promptly got a late fade-away jumper to drop as the shotclock was winding down, the Wolves held a 46-45 lead with 5:24 to play.
Curry and Green checked back in at the 5:07 mark.
But Lavine got a bucket, then Varejao tapped a missed three by Barnes to Steph, but Curry threw it away, resulting in another dunk for the Wolves:
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McAdoo got a putback dunk on a Draymond attempt, Klay finally hit a three from the right wing, and Steph stole a Towns entry pass and, in transition, dissected Lavine with a behind-the-back crossover, turning the corner to the hoop, and getting a scoop just past Towns’ rim protection.
Out of a timeout by Minnesota head coach Sam Mitchell with 2:19 to go, a strong drive by Green with Draymond screaming, “And one!” finally tied the game at 55-55, then Curry made a beautiful split of a double-team on the right elbow, initiating and drawing contact at the rim, and making the acrobatic lefty layup, with a correct no-call from the officials.
The momentum continued as Brandon Rush deflected a pass, Klay led the break, and found Rush for a reverse, hanging lay-in.
But Towns earned free throws, then McAdoo took an extra dribble under the hoop and got swatted, leading to another Lavine dunk, but Steph took a deep trey from the left hashmark over two Wolves that went in and out, and Green got a tip-in just before the buzzer.
That gave the Warriors a 61-58 lead heading into the second half.
However, the Wolves had four starters in double-figures while Curry and Green led the Warriors with 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists and 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists, respectively.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @richwang3)
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