For the second-straight game, the shorthanded Warriors put forth a great effort, but were unable to come away with the victory after falling to the Timberwolves 109-103 on Sunday. Golden State bounced back from an early double-digit deficit to tie the game heading into the fourth quarter, but the Dubs fell short in the final minutes. Kevin Durant led all scorers with 39 points in addition to 12 rebounds, notching his third-straight 30-point game. Klay Thompson added 21 points and five assists, while Zaza Pachulia recorded a double-double off the bench with 16 points and 11 boards. With the loss, Golden State drops to 51-16 on the season.
TEAM LEADERS
MISSING BODIES
Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the Warriors’ back-to-back losses have come with a significantly depleted roster. Stephen Curry, Andre Iguodala, David West, Patrick McCaw and Jordan Bell all missed both defeats due to injury, and even Quinn Cook was questionable for Sunday’s game in Minnesota with a right hand contusion, although he still ended up playing. Winning in the NBA is tough enough as it is, but when a team is missing such a significant portion of their roster, it becomes a much taller task. The good news is Golden State won’t play again until Wednesday, affording the injured players more time to recuperate.
FIGHTING BACK
In addition to being significantly shorthanded, Golden State had a bleak start to the game. They struggled to get their shots to fall, while the Timberwolves did not, as Minnesota took a 34-24 lead at the end of a first quarter in which they shot 65.2 percent from the field. However, the Warriors didn’t mail it in, and would soon get themselves right back in the game. The Dubs scored the first eight points of the second quarter to pull within two, and Klay Thompson’s three-pointer at the 9:27 mark soon gave them a one-point lead. Golden State would continue to build on that momentum and ultimately take their largest lead of the game on Kevin Durant’s three-pointer that put the Dubs up 57-45 with 3:47 remaining in the first half.
Minnesota would eventually close within 62-55 going into halftime. The two sides would be deadlocked at 84-84 going into the fourth quarter, before Karl-Anthony Towns and the Timberwolves made the winning plays in the final minutes.
VOLUME SCORER
It wasn’t his most efficient game, but Kevin Durant showed yet again why he’s one of the most feared scorers in the history of the sport. After scoring 37 and 40 points in Golden State’s last two games, respectively, Durant followed it up with another high-scoring game on Sunday, totaling a game-high 39 points in the contest. Minnesota forced him to be a volume scorer, as he shot 11-of-32 from the field, but Durant still managed to be a sharpshooter from long distance, making five of his 12 three-point attempts in the game.
ZAZA COMES UP BIG
In terms of efficiency, no one stood out more than Zaza Pachulia, who had one of his better games this season off the bench. Pachulia totaled 16 points and 11 rebounds on 7-of-9 shooting from the field, constituting his 10th double-digit scoring game of the season.
UP NEXT
The Dubs will have Saturday off before taking on the Timberwolves on Sunday in a nationally televised matinee. The game will mark the third straight Warriors matchup against a Western Conference team currently in place to make the playoffs. The Dubs have won this season’s first two meetings with the Timberwolves, and Sunday’s game will mark the team’s first and only regular season trip to Minnesota this season. FIND TICKETS