The Golden State Warriors have suffered their fifth loss in the last seven games. Steve Kerr’s team, which is by no means going through its best stretch of the season, fell in his visit to the Target Center in Minnesota 119-99 against the Timberwolves who staged a great second half. Chris Finch’s men therefore achieved their 21st victory so far this season, which places them in seventh place in the West and brings them closer to direct access to the playoffs.
The locals had the advantage of facing some Warriors with important absences, because Draymond Green, who still does not play due to his physical problems, was joined by Stephen Curry. The point guard ended the last match against Chicago with pain in his right hand after a fall, and although it was ruled out that he had suffered an injury, the San Francisco players have chosen to give him rest this time to allow him to fully recover.
However, his teammates managed to stay in the game for many minutes, because it was not until the end of the third quarter when the Wolves got away on the scoreboard. However, once they did, the visitors couldn’t seem to find a way to stop the bleeding, conceding a 32-4 run that ended any chance of victory. In this way, Minnesota went from behind on the scoreboard to being 27 points ahead, allowing themselves to close the duel with peace of mind and giving their important men rest.
Among these, the most outstanding was Karl-Anthony Towns, who with 26 points and 11 rebounds was in charge of commanding his team on a night in which neither Anthony Edwards nor D’Angelo Russell were particularly inspired at the scoring level. This, however, did not leave him without company, as he found support in the second unit in the figures of Jaylen Nowell and Malik Beasley, who added 17 and 16 points respectively from the bench and were fundamental in the quarter that broke the game.
In the Warriors, Jordan Poole and Jonathan Kuminga tried to keep their team alive with 20 and 19 points, but they were not able to maintain their level in the most difficult stages of the game and Golden State simply did not find an answer. Klay Thompson, for his part, continued to accumulate game time, this time 22 minutes in which he reached 13 points after signing a 5/14 shot (3/8 triple).
“We are in a difficult moment,” said Steve Kerr after the crash. «All teams have a stage like this at some point in the year, and it has touched us now that some injuries have joined us. There is no need to dramatize, we will recover.
(Cover photo: David Berding/Getty Images)
