If you watch SportsCenter, you hear “Warriors” or “Dub Nation” more than you hear the word “like” from your high school sister.
(It's my sister's favorite word.)
But the Warriors deserve all the attention they get.
They are 69-8 and need to go 4-1 in their last five games to break the Chicago Bulls’ record of 72 wins in 1995-96.
The Warriors will play the Timberwolves tonight and Minnesota will try to spoil Golden State’s spectacular season. But how likely is it?
Well, considering the Wolves have only won 25 games this season, you don’t need advanced metrics to tell you that the Wolves are not favored to win tonight’s game.
The Warriors lost on April 1 to the Boston Celtics in probably one of the best games of the season. After that, Steph Curry reminded us that he’s really, really good and led the Warriors to a 136-111 win (after Portland led 37-31 after the first quarter) over the Blazers.
Let’s not discount the Wolves so easily, though. The team hasn’t played well lately, scoring less than 90 points in its last three games – all losses. But this is a team that has played to its competition’s level all season long – for better or worse.
A perfect example is on March 21 when the Wolves led in the fourth quarter against the same Warriors, nearly completing the upset at a rocking Target Center.
Tonight, the Wolves will not be at the Target Center and the game will be played at ORACLE Arena, a place Golden State has only lost once (to the Celtics) this season. So that’s not exactly promising.
But what is promising for Wolves' fans is that Minnesota, for the most part, has shown off plenty of potential when playing upper-echelon teams this season.
Examples: Double OT win in Chicago on Nov. 7 (the Wolves swept the Bulls this season). A four-point loss against the Clippers on Dec. 7 and a six-point win against the Clippers two months later. A big win over the Toronto Raptors before the All-Star Game. Ricky Rubio’s 3-point game-winner to lift the Wolves over the Thunder on March 11. And most recently, Zach LaVine’s insane performance on March 25 to help the Wolves to a double-overtime win over the Wizards on the road, essentially ending Washington’s season.
There’s really no set of ingredients on how to beat the Warriors. Sure, you could play Curry with a bit more physicality. Maybe you try to take out Draymond Green, the team’s glue guy. But if those things were that easy, well, this team wouldn’t have 69 wins, would it?
The odds aren’t in Minnesota’s favor tonight, but we’ve seen that the Wolves are capable of playing well against some of the NBA’s elite teams. That’s as much of a chance that anyone can ask for.
Tip-off is set for 9:30 tonight and the game will air on TNT and WCCO 830 AM.