Thompson's Late Surge Sends Warriors Past Wolves, 106-93
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If you would have told Minnesota Timberwolves fans that Stephen Curry would finish with just five points, most would have been thrilled and would have bet the house that the Wolves improved to 4-1 with a win over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night.
Not so fast, said Golden State shooting guard Klay Thompson. Thompson closed the Wolves out in the fourth quarter, scoring 19 points, giving him 30 for the night while shooting 11-of-21 from the field and 6-of-9 from the 3-point line helping the Warriors beat the Wolves 106-93 at the Target Center.
Wolves vs. Warriors
While the Wolves weren’t quite as electric as they were in the first three of four games, they did get out of the quarter with a slim 28-26 lead led by nine points from Kevin Martin. Kevin Love had another typical “Love quarter” finishing with eight points, six rebounds and three assists.
Corey Brewer was guarded by Curry in the first quarter, something Golden State likely thought would screw the Wolves up. That didn’t work out all that well. Brewer finished the quarter with six points, two coming on cutting layups.
David Lee led the Warriors with eight points and five boards. The “Splash Brothers” tandem of Curry and Thompson finished with just four points and were a combined 2-of-6 from the field.
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The Wolves went to the second unit in the second quarter and that’s when the wheels fell off.
“The whole thing changed. We have to find a way to keep things going and to be more protective and it just didn’t happen,” said Wolves coach Rick Adelman of Minnesota’s bench play.
The Warriors went on a 9-0 run before Wolves head coach put Martin, Nikola Pekovic and Ricky Rubio back in the game at the 7:37 mark. Almost immediately, Martin scored three points (all free throws) to put the Wolves back within two.
Minnesota trailed 50-47 at half. Martin led the Wolves with 16 points while shooting 5-of-8 from the field. Love finished the half with 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Brewer also added 10.
Lee led Golden State with 16 points and eight points, while slasher Andrew Iguodala added 10.
The third quarter was a bit of a roller coaster. After the Warriors jumped back up to a 67-57 lead, the Wolves got back within three after a Brewer 3-point play but that didn’t last long. The Warriors went on to take a 75-64 lead with 2:24 left in the quarter. At that point, Golden State outscored Minnesota 23-5 on points off turnovers.
The third quarter was a bit of a roller coaster. The Wolves got it within three points after a Brewer 3-point play, but the Warriors opened it back up, eventually taking a 75-64 lead with 2:24 left in the quarter. At that point, Golden State outscored Minnesota 23-5 on points off turnovers.
That’s when the Klay Thompson Show started. The shooting guard entered the fourth with just 11 points. That changed in a hurry. Thompson made five 3-pointers in the quarter and at one time scored 13 straight points for the Warriors, giving them a 99-81 lead and emptied out the Target Center in the process to capture his team’s fourth victory of the season.
“He’s great,” said Wolves guard J.J. Barea, who was in charge of guarding Thompson for much of the final quarter. “He made a tough shot there on the baseline and then got going so we have to give him a lot of credit.”
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Thompson led the Warriors with 30 points. Lee added 22 points and 15 points, while Iguodala finished with a quiet 20 points. In his first game of the season after recovering from a toe injury, Harrison Barnes finished with 14 points in less than 14 minutes off the bench.
Love led Minnesota with 25 points to go along with 16 rebounds. Martin scored 23, while Brewer scored a season-high 18. Rubio and Pekovic struggled for the second straight game, combining for 17 points while shooting just 6-of-19 from the field.
The Wolves shot 37.8 percent compared to Golden State’s mark of 50 percent.
With the Warriors likely being a playoff team in the Western Conference, it would have been nice for the Wolves to snag a win at home. Instead they hope they can beat Dallas on Friday and at least one of two against the two Los Angeles teams on Sunday and Monday.
After starting the season 3-0, Minnesota now sits at 3-2.
Leader of the Pack: Kevin Love
Love continued his hot start to the 2013-14 season. For the fourth time in five games, Love scored 20 or more points. The former UCLA star finished with 25 points, 16 rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block. Love will need to keep that play up as he’s got a big matchup on Friday against Dirk Nowitzki.
His +26 was second on the team, trailing only Rubio’s +/- mark of +29.
Highlight of the Night
After Love grabbed a defensive rebound with 7:20 left in the first quarter, he pushed it to Martin. Martin gave it to Rubio and then the magic happened. Rubio drove to the left, drawing Lee and Curry to him and hit a cutting Love with a behind-the-back pass. Love finished the play with a layup. It was one of Rubio’s seven assists.
The Numbers Game
Quote of the Night
“I just didn’t think the way we played tonight, the tempo, we just didn’t have any rhythm at either end of the court, after the first quarter especially. The first quarter we were okay offensively, but not defensively. (It) just spiraled from there.” –Wolves coach Rick Adelman on his team’s performance.
Next Up
The Timberwolves stay at home as they host Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks on Friday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on Fox Sports North and WCCO 830-AM. The Wolves and Mavericks split their four-game series last season.