Golden State Warriors Drop Fourth Straight Game As Tempers Flare In The Bay

The Golden State Warriors losing streak continued last night with a second straight loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, 104-101. The Warriors were already at a major disadvantage to start the game as Steph Curry was out with a knee injury, but when Draymond Green and Klay Thompson were tossed a minute into the game, coming away with a win seemed almost impossible. Somehow, some way, the Warriors were able to keep things close and give themselves a chance late in the fourth, but they couldn’t pull off the upset, and dropped their fourth game in a row, falling to 6-6.

Before a point was even scored, all hell broke loose. It all started when Anthony Edwards missed a step back three and Klay Thompson and Jaden McDaniels got tangled up. Klay seemed to grab a hold of McDaniels’ jersey and he took exception to it, on their jog back down court there was some pushing and shoving and both sort of attempted to throw each other to the ground. Rudy Gobert quickly came and grabbed a hold of Klay Thompson which Draymond Green did not appreciate and in turn, put Gobert in a chokehold as he dragged him another 10-20 feet down court. Klay, Dray and McDaniels were all ejected and the game resumed play after Gobert knocked down two free throws as a result of the flagrant foul. Down three starters, the Warriors surprisingly finished the first quarter strong. The bench players got opportunities to shine and took advantage of it. Rookie Brandin Podziemski and journeyman Cory Joseph drilled a couple threes and the Dubs came out of the first period up 30-22. Karl Anthony-Towns came out hot to start the second scoring nine straight points for the T-Wolves including two deep threes to cut the Warrior lead to 34-33. After Kyle Anderson got a floater to fall and bring Minnesota up a bucket, Podziemski nailed a near 30-footer to electrify the Chase Center crowd. The next several minutes were back and forth, with several lead changes. But Chris Paul knocked down a trey ball before Saric got an and-1 helping the Warriors balloon their lead to seven. With under a minute, Conley hit a pair of free throws from the charity stripe and intermission began with the Dubs up 59-54.

Both teams stiffened up on the defensive end, as the second half was low scoring. After a sweet Edwards three pointer sandwiched by two Warriors buckets, both teams went scoreless for over two minutes. Finally Podziemski got to the rack for two plus the foul to give Golden State a 66-57 lead. Then with under six minutes to go, Saric drilled a three and followed it up with an easy layup off a dish from CP3 and the Warriors had a 12 point cushion. Sensing some urgency, the Wolves picked up the pace to finish the third and trimmed the lead to 83-76 led by two Shake Milton and-1s. Miraculously, with one quarter to play, the Warriors were in control despite Curry, Klay and Dray all not playing. Unfortunately, the Dubs went scoreless for over five minutes to start the fourth and KAT evened the score at 83 on a shot from beyond the arc. The next possession GP2 finally took the lid off the basket but KAT came right back and sprayed another deep ball putting Minnesota up 86-85. The game remained neck and neck the rest of the way. With four minutes on the clock, KAT broke the 92-92 tie with a 10-foot jumper, but Podziemski quickly came down the court and completed an and-1 elevating the Warriors to a 95-94 lead. Three minutes later down by two, KAT cashed in another one from downtown to give Minnesota a one point advantage. The Warriors had two opportunities to take the lead but couldn’t convert. CP3 missed a mid range jumper and Gobert got a hand on a Saric three pointer. With under ten seconds Conley drilled a corner three to ice the game, and Golden State’s upset bid came up short. 

Karl Anthony-Towns paced all scorers with 33 points in an impressive 42 minutes. He nailed five threes, going 5-12 from beyond the arc and 12-26 from the field with an additional 11 boards. Anthony Edwards had a mediocre game, putting up 20 points on a 7-16 clip. Gobert was just short of a double-double with 9 points and 13 rebounds. Naz Reid was the only bench player to get in double figures, putting up 10 points on an efficient 80% from the field. With Curry and Klay out, there were plenty of shots to go around for Golden State. Podziemski and Saric perhaps took the most advantage, combining for 44 points on 15-33 from the field and 6-19 from downtown. Kevon Looney led the way on the glass with 12 boards but finished with just two points. Finally, Wiggins struggled again going 4-15 with 9 points while CP3 had a decent showing recording 15 points on a 6-14 clip. 

Quite honestly, with the three cornerstones of the last decade out, the fact that the Warriors were able to stay competitive with one of the best teams in the league so far is very impressive. The biggest reason they were able to do this was playing good defense. Anytime you can limit your opponent to 104 points, you have a chance to win the game. The Wolves only got 36 points in the paint and 9 offensive rebounds. Considering the size differential, this was a great sign. The Warriors did turn the ball over 19 times but were able to force 19 turnovers at the same time. One area the Dubs would like to be better in moving forward is three point shooting as they made just 33% of shots from beyond the arc. These nights are inevitable and Golden State will have to live with them if they wish to continue hoisting the amount of threes that they do. 

Now sitting at 6-6 with a suspension for Draymond Green likely looming, Golden State needs Steph Curry back more than ever. The homestand continues Thursday night with another matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder. This time though, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will play. If Steph cannot suit up, I find it hard to believe the Warriors will be able to get the win. Chalk it up as the fifth straight loss, as I predict the Thunder come to town and win 119-111.