Curry scored 31 points, Klay missed the tie, and the Rockets were about to overtake
On March 25, Beijing time, the NBA regular season ushered in a heavyweight matchup, and the Timberwolves hosted the Warriors. Previously, the Timberwolves had a 48-22 record, ranking third in the West, and the Warriors had a 36-22 record, ranking tenth in the West. As the favorite to win the championship, the Warriors are now in a very embarrassing situation, the Rockets behind them have won 8 consecutive victories, chasing only 1.5 wins, and the Warriors can't even play the play-offs if they miss a little! Statistics show that this season, the Warriors have an overall record of only 4 wins and 16 losses in the face of the top six in the West, including being swept by the Nuggets 0-4, and the previous two games against the Timberwolves also lost. When Kuminga + Bojie + Davis grew rapidly, the Warriors' shortcomings in addition to the older core + short lineup, Curry's unstable performance became an obstacle to the Warriors' progress.
In contrast, the Timberwolves are in a good situation. Towns was out for the regular season, but the Timberwolves held on to the third spot, leaving the Clippers and Pelicans behind them. The third place means that there is a high probability of playing the Mavericks, compared to the Suns and Lakers, which are obviously much easier to play, and the key Towns will return to the team in the playoffs, which will not have much impact on the team. Statistics show that the Timberwolves are 7-3 in the games that Towns has missed this season, and the last time the Timberwolves won 48+ games in a single season was 20 years ago, when Garnett was elected the MVP of the regular season, and the Timberwolves finally played in the Western Conference finals. And the Timberwolves' twin tower combination + defensive efficiency is the team with the best chance to challenge the defending champion Nuggets. To put it simply, the Timberwolves have no pressure in this game, and the Warriors must win.
Timberwolves starters: Edwards + Conley + McDaniels + Reed + Gobert; Warriors starters: Curry + Podzemski + Wiggins + Kuminga + Dream Green. At the beginning of the game, Bojie broke through to make a kill, and Curry opened the three-point touch early. After Kuminga hatted McDaniels, he counterattacked and made a quick layup, and the Timberwolves scored all the points in the opening game with Reed, and Morris and Gobert scored 8 points in a row in the middle to lead the team to overtake! Edwards was visibly feeling a little tired and couldn't break through.
Back in the second quarter, after Kuminga ate the cake under the basket, Reed hooked + three consecutive points in the front, and the Timberwolves instantly got up! Kuminga reluctantly responded with a single, Reed hit another three points, and couldn't stop it! Wiggins and Curry rained three points in the middle of the game, and after opening up a double-digit point difference, Edwards finally found his form, broke through the tough kill, dribbled and shot, and then broke through to the free throw line to stop and shoot backwards! The Warriors relied on Curry to respond with consecutive jump shots, but Curry missed the basket! At the end of the quarter, McDaniels and Edwards blossomed inside and out, and the Warriors led the Timberwolves 54-46 at halftime, Curry scored 14 points, Wiggins and Kuminga each scored 11 points, and on the Timberwolves' side, Reed had 17 points and 7 rebounds, and Edwards had 14 points and 4 assists.
At the beginning of the second half, Reed and Conley hit two more three-pointers, Edwards named Curry, and Gobert ate cakes, and the Timberwolves closed the gap again. In the middle of the two teams, the two teams fell into a tug-of-war, Curry blocked and dismantled directly after half the court and threw a three-pointer, which was the 3700th three-point shot in Curry's career, continuing to refresh the historical record! However, McDaniels and Gobert blossomed inside and out, and then Edwards' three-point shot once again made the Timberwolves improve their momentum, and Kerr did not call a timeout! In the second half, Dream Green hit an empty three-point shot in the bottom corner, Edwards went to greet the referee, and ate a technical foul, but the Timberwolves relied on McLaughlin and Walker's three points to bite the score strongly. At the end of the third quarter, the Timberwolves trailed the Warriors 78-81. In the fourth quarter, Walker and Morris continued to rain three-pointers, and the Timberwolves overtook the score.
Poger and Paul chased five points in a row to stabilize the situation. Gobert's dunk and Conley's layup stopped Kerr again, and after the timeout, Lee Kyle and Conley continued to score. At the critical moment, Klay's three-pointer helped the Warriors stop the bleeding, and then Edwards and Klay continued to bombard three-pointers! At the decisive moment, Payton and Davis chased only 3 points, Gobert's dunk was not cared for, and Curry and Conley continued to snipe on the outside. At the last moment, Gobert made a kill, the Timberwolves opened a 5-point difference, Curry made free throws + layups to steal points in a row, and in the last 11 seconds, Edwards hit both free throws, the Warriors' last attack, Klay hit the iron with three points, Edwards grabbed the rebound, and then made one of the two free throws, Curry continued to play iron with three points, and finally the Warriors lost to the Timberwolves 110-114, suffering a big reversal!
Warriors statistics, Curry 31 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, Dream Green 12 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists, Kuminga 14 points and 3 rebounds, Klay 16 points and 3 rebounds, Wiggins 15 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals, Paul 7 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists. Timberwolves statistics, Edwards 23 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists, Reed 20 points and 12 rebounds, Gobert 17 points and 12 rebounds, Conley 14 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists, Walker 11 points, Lee Kyle 10 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. After this game, the Warriors are 2 wins behind the Lakers, and the Rockets are only 1 win behind the Warriors.