Timberwolves at Warriors
The Golden State Warriors bounced back from their first home loss in over a year in impressive fashion and remain on track to break the record for wins in a single season. The Minnesota Timberwolves, who visit the Warriors on Tuesday, are not putting up much of a fight of late and will have to find more points if they hope to hang with Golden State.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr admitted after a 109-106 home loss to the Boston Celtics on Friday that the weight and pressure of chasing the record may be getting to his team, and it looked like a different club on Sunday after getting a day off. Golden State shot 56.8 percent from the field and got 39 points from Stephen Curry in the 136-111 win over the Portland Trail Blazers and now needs to go 4-1 over the final five games of the regular season to break the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls’ record of 72 wins. The 136 points the Warriors put up on Sunday is a bar much higher than the Timberwolves have reached of late as the young team plays out the string. Minnesota is averaging 80.7 points in three straight losses and went 4-of-21 from 3-point range in an 88-78 home loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, TNT, FSN North (Minnesota), CSN Bay Area (Golden State)
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (25-52): Minnesota is measuring its season in the progress of its budding stars rather than counting wins and losses, though Rookie of the Year favorite Karl-Anthony Towns would prefer his progress result in victories. “I don’t feel good at all,” Towns told the Minneapolis Star Tribune after collecting 11 points, 21 rebounds and nine assists on Sunday. “You’ve got to get W’s, you gotta win. We’re doing a great job taking steps every day, progressing, being the team that we want to be, but I don’t feel good about having stats like that and not winning.” Towns went 38-1 in his lone year in college at Kentucky and reached the Final Four.
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (69-8): Golden State committed 22 turnovers against the Celtics but knocked that number down to 12 against the Trail Blazers while burying 18-of-30 from beyond the arc. “Not lose focus of our goal for the season, obviously we’re chasing something,” Curry told ESPN after Sunday’s game. “Try not to lose two in a row – that’s our goal for the year – and if we can do that, then most likely we’ll finish strong. So, this was a big opportunity for us to get that bad taste out of our mouth and get another win.” The Warriors still have to play the San Antonio Spurs and the Memphis Grizzlies twice each before the end of the regular season.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Warriors C Festus Ezeli (knee) returned from a 31-game absence on Sunday and collected two points and three rebounds in nine minutes.
2. Timberwolves G Andrew Wiggins is averaging 27 points in the last two games after slumping to seven points against the Clippers on Wednesday.
3. Golden State squeezed by Minnesota 109-104 on the road on March 21 as Curry struggled to 6-of-19 from the floor.