3RD QUARTER: Let The Flood Gates Open
The Warriors poured it on the young Timberwolves in the third quarter, getting a Draymond Green slam dunk on a fast break after Stephen Curry stole the ball yet again from Zach Lavine.
Golden State then rattled off the following, the beneficiary of seven Timberwolves turnovers in the quarter, plus an 8-0 run that gave the Warriors a 70-52 lead with 9:17 to go, with Minnesota head coach Flip Saunders forced to call timeout:
- Harrison Barnes hit a left corner trey, assisted by Green.
- Curry buried a trey, assisted by Marreese Speights.
- Barnes dunked, assisted by Klay Thompson.
- Barnes got blocked at the rim by Gorgui Dieng, but Green returning the favor, getting his third blocked shot of the night on Lavine at the other end.
- Barnes stole the ball from a driving Dieng, flipped it Curry open at the left elbow, got it to Green, who got it back to Curry now on the opposite right corner, who then took Dieng baseline for the layup.
At the 8:23 mark, the Warriors blew the game open with a 72-53 lead and Saunders had to call another timeout, this time of the twenty-second variety, to try and stem the tide.
It didn’t work, as Curry got another three, assisted by Green, then on defense, Curry tapped the ball away with Dieng involved in the loose ball. Dieng tipped it too and the ball was going out of bounds, so he dove while Curry surveyed the situation as Dieng was falling out of bounds, taking the ball away for a fast break the other way. Curry pulled up from beyond the arc, missed it, but Green got the offensive rebound and passed it back to Curry, who was still at the same left elbow. Curry then found Thompson on the opposite side of the court and Klay drilled the wide-open three, to give the Warriors a 78-57 lead with 5:54 to play in the quarter.
Saunders called another timeout.
Curry wasn’t done, as Andre Iguodala drove hard and found Steph for another trey, this time from the right side, giving Curry 25 points. Green followed that up with his fifth steal of the game leaving Thaddeus Young on an island at halfcourt, and slamming home the uncontested run-out fastbreak. That gave the Dubs an 83-63 lead with 3:30 to go.
Justin Holiday got a steal on Mo Williams and Green led the break, finding Iguodala for an “and-one” finish. After converting the free throw, that put the Warriors up, 88-63, with 1:12 remaining.
About the only thing that went wrong for the Warriors was Curry committing a foul as he and Holiday swarmed Williams with the clock winding down. Curry was called for the foul with 0.6 ticks remaining, Golden State’s fifth team foul, sending Williams to the line for a “gimme” two points to end the quarter.
The Warriors took a commanding 88-67 lead into the final frame. Curry led all scorers with 25 points on 9-for-18 field, 4-for-9 downtown, and 6 assists, 3 steals, to 3 turnovers. Thompson added 21 points on 8-for-15 shooting, and also 4-for-9 from beyond the arc. Green filled up the stat sheet yet again with 4 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals, and 3 blocked shots.
Young led the ‘Wolves with 17 points on 7-for-10 shooting and 6 rebounds. Lavine tallied 10 points, 8 rebounds, and Shabazz Muhammad added 9 points, 9 rebounds.
4TH QUARTER: Second Unit Mops Up
Warriors head coach started Ognjen Kuzmic for the fourth quarter and he immediately scored a flat-footed jumper from the top, giving Golden State a 90-67 lead, and even got an assist. He would later get another bucket on a tip-in putback.
Iguodala also got an easy driving bucket at the rim to push his scoring total to double-digits, while Green blocked Jeff Adrien for his fourth swat of the night.
Leandro Barbosa subbed in for Iguodala at the 6:15 mark with the Warriors up, 96-71. Brandon Rush would replace Holiday at 5:31 and Barnes and Livingston closed out the game with Kuzmic, Barbosa, and Rush.
The final score was the Warriors 110, Timberwolves 96 as the Warriors main players all rested the entire fourth quarter.
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