Warriors Game Day: Sights & Sounds From #WarriorsGround – Steph Curry Leads Golden State To Comeback Over Minnesota Timberwolves (Photo: @kevchoice Instagram account)
ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — The pregame news of Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut having a painful fractured rib that would be at risk of puncturing a lung put a downcast on the Warriors’ upcoming playoff hopes.
Jermaine O’Neal would get the start, as would Harrison Barnes, in place of Andre Iguodala who on a back-to-back was resting his knee from the ongoing tendinitis.
PRE-GAME
Head coach Mark Jackson delivered the news, followed by an interview with Bogut inside the locker room shortly thereafter.
IN-GAME
Minnesota’s All-Star forward Kevin Love got off to a tremendous start, hitting his first five shots, four of the three-pointers, early on. At the end of the first quarter, Love had tallied 22 points and the T’wolves were up big, 42-28. Stephen Curry did what he could to keep the game within reach, also hitting four three-pointers while collecting 15 points.
In the second quarter, Marreese Speights brought some energy with a putback and an and-one, although he had taken nine shots and made only two of them. Nevertheless, he provided a much-needed spark, as Jordan Crawford and Steve Blake were largely ineffective. The Timberwolves led, 51-37, with 7:31 to go in the first half.
Curry got hot again, hitting two three-pointers in a row to pull the Warriors into a 55-55 tie with 2:27 left to go in the second quarter. By then, Curry had accumulated 23 points on 6-for-8 from beyond the arc.
At the halftime buzzer, Curry narrowly missed another running three-pointer. Minnesota took a 64-62 lead into the break, with Love leading the way with 26 points and 10 rebounds, while Curry countered with 23 points and 7 assists.
The Warriors gained momentum in the third quarter on the back of David Lee, who reached 18 points and 7 rebounds as Golden State took a 97-92 lead into the fourth quarter.
Draymond Green was also contributing, crashing the boards as usual, but also hitting open shots off of swing passes and delivering great passes to open or cutting teammates.
With 6:20 to go in the game, the Warriors led 111-105 and Green had chalked up 15 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 steals.
The Warriors gained more and more control and closed out the comeback with a final score of Warriors 130, Timberwolves 120.
Curry hit another clutch stepback trey in the process.
Curry led the Warriors with 32 points and 15 assists, while Lee looked like his old self with 25 points and 9 rebounds. Green added 20 points and 12 rebounds, while Love finished with a near-triple-double with 40 points, 14 rebounds, and 9 assists.
POST-GAME
We gave a full report of the post-game interviews and takeaways here, as well as reported on Curry’s new Under Armour kicks expected in the summer.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
