Warriors at Timberwolves
The travel-weary and depleted Golden State Warriors don't look much like their explosive best offensively of late. The Warriors will try to summon the energy to avoid back-to-back losses for the second time this month when they visit the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday.
Golden State returned from a five-game road trip after flying cross country from Atlanta and fell off noticeably down the stretch in their lowest-scoring game of the season on Wednesday - a 99-86 loss to the Boston Celtics in which it was outscored 27-12 in the fourth quarter. The Warriors now hit the road for two more games - a back-to-back at Minnesota and San Antonio on Friday and Saturday that could end up determining homecourt advantage in the Western Conference playoffs. The Timberwolves are just hoping to make the playoffs and be that team that faces either Golden State or San Antonio in the first round from the No. 8 spot. Minnesota sits 2 1/2 games behind the eighth-place Denver Nuggets and is coming off an impressive 107-91 triumph over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBATV, CSN Bay Area (Golden State), FSN North (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (52-12): Golden State's "Splash Brothers" All-Star duo of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson is coming up dry of late and is shooting a combined 25.4 percent from 3-point range in the last six games. Coach Steve Kerr acknowledged after Wednesday's game that his team was tired, and that the injury to Kevin Durant (knee) is causing the team to lengthen minutes of some of the other players. "We still have the No. 1 seed, but I won’t run guys ragged to get it," Kerr told reporters. "We have to manage this stretch right here and get through this week."
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (26-37): Minnesota won three of its last four games and held each of those opponents under 100 points, with the lone loss in that span a 97-90 overtime setback at San Antonio. "I think we’re feeling like a team that’s playing with confidence," star center Karl-Anthony Towns told reporters. "I don’t know what a playoff team feels like, but my wild guess I think we right now are playing with the confidence, with the demeanor of a playoff team. We’ve got to continue to build. We can still be a playoff team." Towns is doing his best to make the Timberwolves a playoff team and he collected 29 points on 14-of-21 shooting and 14 rebounds against the Clippers' All-Star front line on Wednesday.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Timberwolves PG Ricky Rubio recorded double-digit assists in eight of the last 10 games.
2. The Warriors' bench scored 17 points on Wednesday after totaling 55 in Monday's win at Atlanta.
3. Golden State took each of the first two meetings this season, including a 116-108 win at Minnesota on Dec. 11.