The Golden State Warriors got four days off following their short-handed blowout win over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday. More importantly, they got healthier, with Steph Curry returning to action on Friday
night as the Dubs hosted the a Minnesota Timberwolves team that was playing without star Anthony Edwards.
With that, the stars were aligned for the Warriors to build on their recent run of success. But the baskets, however, were not aligned. Or at least, not aligned with where the ball was when the Warriors were shooting.
Golden State played fairly well against Minnesota, but missed wide open shots all night in a 117-110 loss. The Dubs shot just 15-for-46 (32.6%) from three-point range, with non-Curry players going just 9-for-31 (29.0%). The Warriors, who have quietly turned into one of the best defensive teams in the NBA in recent weeks, didn’t put forth a defensive effort that would carry them to victory (it didn’t help that Draymond Green missed the game due to personal reasons), and needed to have a nice shooting night to be competitive. But they didn’t have anice shooting night.
Curry played very well in his return to action, and didn’t look to be physically compromised at all. He came out of the gates firing, scoring eight of the first 12 points for the team, but the Wolves found a rhythm first, and took an 18-12 lead. Golden State answered quickly with seven straight points to take the lead, but even as they did so, they were missing wide open three after wide open three, and trailed 28-27 after the first frame.
The second quarter brought on a lot of fun and excitement, as both teams started to find rhythm. Minnesota was doing it with tremendous athleticism, while Golden State was accomplishing their success with strong execution. It was, quite simply, high-level basketball by both teams, on both ends of the court, and neither squad could create much separation. The Dubs got a little chaotic in the final moments, and a touch sloppy, while Julius Randle put on a scoring clinic with Edwards sidelined. But the Warriors ended the quarter with a flourish and a 63-61 lead. As the teams went to the locker rooms, they had already exchanged leads 20 times.
They would do so seven more times in the third quarter, including as soon as the half began. Driven by a surplus of Warrior turnovers, the Wolves scored the first six points of the quarter, prompting Steve Kerr to call a timeout after just 71 seconds of action. The Warriors, despite their extended break, looked tired and fatigued, while the Timberwolves looked athletic and full of energy.
A substitution to bring Moses Moody into the game (the starting lineup was Curry, Pat Spencer, Buddy Hield, Jimmy Butler III, and Quinten Post) changed that, as the fifth-year wing brought heart, hustle, and endless troves of energy, which his teammates found contagious. Suddenly the Warriors were flying all over the court, and rattled off 10 straight points. The ended the quarter on a 12-3 run — much of it with Curry on the bench — and led 91-88 going into the critical fourth quarter.
And then the Warriors again got cold, and at the worst possible time. They could not find the bottom of the net, despite an endless stream of good looks. Minnesota, meanwhile, was catching fire, and capitalizing on Golden State’s offensive futility. An 11-0 run got Curry back into the game, and at the halfway mark of the final quarter, the Wolves had scored 17 straight points, and opened up a 12-point lead. Kerr called timeout, and the Chase Center was debilitated.
They had one hell of a response, though. Curry took the lid off the basket following the timeout, draining a layup and then a three, and forcing Minnesota to call a timeout in response. That timeout did little, as Golden State got a stop and a Moody three, capping a lightning-fast 8-0 run.
Neither team was done stealing the lead. Curry hit the highlight of the game with just over three minutes remaining, pump-faking to get Donte DiVincenzo to fly by him in one direction, then pump-faking to get Rudy Gobert to fly by him in the other direction, then calmly draining a three to cut the deficit to one point. A minute later, he gave Golden State the lead with a step-back three, which immediately let to Moody stealing the inbounds and laying it in. It capped a 21-6 run, and gave the Warriors a three-point lead with two minutes remaining.
From there, though, the execution went Minnesota’s way. DiVincenzo immediately answered with an equalizing three against his former team, then the Warriors took a one-point lead when Curry split a pair of free throws. Rudy Gobert flexed his height and length with a dunk through Post on the other end, then Post had all day to shoot a three on the ensuing possession. It appeared that he thought about it too long, and finally pulled the trigger with a miss. A Moody foul on the rebound attempt gave Naz Reid a pair of free throws, which he split, giving Minny a two-point advantage with exactly a minute remaining.
That was still a good place to be in, but Curry missed a three, and DiVincenzo threw up a tough three to try to get a two-for-one … and it went in, pushing the lead to five with just 27.4 seconds. The Warriors were out of pushes, as they couldn’t get a good look on the other end, and that was that.
