Timberwolves vs. Warriors: Score, Highlights, Reaction from 2016 Regular Season
The Golden State Warriors' quest for 73 wins took a major hit Tuesday night when the defending champions coughed up a double-digit lead and fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves, 124-117, in overtime at Oracle Arena.
The loss dropped the Warriors to 69-9 on the season and marked the team's second home loss in three games after the Boston Celtics pulled off a 109-106 stunner Friday. The Warriors now have to close out the regular season with four straight wins to break the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls' single-season wins record.
CSN Bay Area's Rosalyn Gold-Onwude noted the Warriors' late-season slide was similar to what those Bulls experienced prior to their title run:
Going 4-0 over their final four regular-season contests figures to be a mighty tall task for the Warriors, as they still have two games remaining against the San Antonio Spurs. Point guard Tony Parker believes his team will roll out its full arsenal of superstars when the two sides meet Thursday night in the Bay Area, according to ESPN.com's Michael C. Wright.
As it turns out, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr may have been telling the truth when he told USA Today's Sam Amick that his team wasn't "really pushing for" the record Monday.
Golden State possessed a 17-point lead at one point in the third quarter, but that margin quickly evaporated as the Warriors devolved into a sloppy, turnover-filled mess throughout a fourth quarter that saw the Timberwolves post a 28-20 scoring advantage.
All told, the Dubs committed 23 turnovers—up considerably from their season-long average of 14.8 per game.
Compounding matters was the fact Stephen Curry played perhaps his worst game of the season. Although he doled out a season-high 15 assists, he shot just 7-of-25 from the field (4-of-14 from three) en route to scoring 21 points.
In fact, Curry was so off his game, he didn't convert a field goal in the first half, according to ESPN Stats & Info:
Even though the Warriors received double-figure contributions from all five starters for the first time since Nov. 12, per GSWStats on Twitter, a lack of focus plagued them in a way it hadn't in recent years, according to NBA.com/Stats:
As the Warriors faded, the Timberwolves surged in a big way behind the contributions of Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins and Shabazz Muhammad, who poured in a career-high 35 points on 9-of-12 shooting in 39 minutes off the bench.
Wiggins added 32 points, six steals, five rebounds and four assists, while Towns tallied 20 points, 12 rebounds and four dimes while displaying some absurdly nimble footwork when he switched onto Curry. It capped off yet another signature performance on national television for the presumptive Rookie of the Year, as The Ringer's Bill Simmons noted:
The Warriors aren't in imminent danger of coughing up home-court advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs just yet, but Tuesday's loss should put the defending champs on notice.
Although the victory was there for the taking, the Warriors downshifted and got complacent, which simply won't be acceptable when the postseason rolls around.
A win against the Spurs on Thursday will alleviate some concerns, but a third loss in the span of four games would give the Warriors a reason to sound alarms as the playoffs approach and the target on their collective back enlarges each game.
Postgame Reaction
Following the big win, Wiggins discussed the resiliency his team flashed throughout the second half, per the NBA on TNT:
"It was a pretty bad night all around," Kerr said, according to ESPN.com's Ethan Strauss.
Kerr elaborated on his team's lackadaisical play, which he seemed to believe was the root cause of the letdown.
"We decided to turn it into a show, and we started turning it over like crazy," he added, per Strauss, who provided a breakdown of the coach's demeanor after the game:
"I've got no complaints about free-throw disparity," Kerr said after the Timberwolves attempted 28 more free throws than Golden State, per the Bay Area News Group's Marcus Thompson. "They earned it."
"Talent-wise, they're as talented as anybody," Draymond Green said of the Timberwolves, according to the Associated Press' Jon Krawczynski. "Once they get going and catch fire, they're tough."
