Game Report: Warriors come up short in Minnesota

With the offensive and defensive masterminds absent, it was always going to be difficult for the Golden State Warriors to orchestrate a match-winning, two-way performance in Minnesota on Sunday.

Yet, with Draymond Green still out and Stephen Curry recovering from a hand issue sustained against Chicago, the undermanned Warriors put themselves in a winnable position towards the end of the third quarter.

After a host of momentum-swinging plays that went against the Warriors, the Minnesota Timberwolves hit their stride to run out 119-99 winners.

Golden State started well enough, taking a 16-10 lead after starting point guard Jordan Poole converted a four-point play. From there, the tide turned for the remainder of the first quarter, the Timberwolves finishing on a 20-6 run to take an eight-point lead.

The two teams traded blows throughout the second. Jonathan Kuminga again provided a spark with his incredible athleticism and subsequent rim pressure. The Dubs looked like they’d ended the half on a positive note with Poole slithering his way through the defense and providing a lovely wrap-around pass to set up a Klay Thompson triple.

But with the score having read 56-53 at the half, Golden State crucially lost the points from that Thompson three. It may have been the correct result, yet nevertheless, it was a rather strange and unusual play for the referees to cite on review.

Regardless of their misfortunate, the Warriors came out firing in the third and took the lead within three minutes of the resumption. Following that, the Dubs experienced another series of misfortunate moments that, on another day, would have gone their way.

It began when Karl-Anthony Towns drove down the lane with the shot-clock near completion. His shot came after the buzzer, however, upon review, the verdict was that Otto Porter Jr. had fouled him just prior. It meant that the clock technically stopped when the fouled occured, resulting in an and-one for Towns.

Then on the following possession, it appeared like Jordan Poole had his own and-one opportunity when colliding with Timberwolves guard Patrick Beverley. However, after the initial call stemmed from the belief that Beverley was inside the restricted area, another official confirmed that he was indeed outside it, resulting in a change to an offensive foul.

The Warriors review of the play was unsuccessful, also leading to a technical foul on head coach Steve Kerr. Although technically the right decision in the end, the Warriors couldn’t have helped but feel like it was a four-point turnaround.

Soon after, with Poole and Beverley having an aggressive back-and-forth battle, the young Warrior guard was hit hard in the head by Beverley when attacking the rim. He completed his two free throws, yet inexplicably, the call was never reviewed in what should have been a flagrant one situation.

Already pushing uphill with the absence of Curry and Green, those sequences seemed to drain any life out of the Warriors’ chances. After the Warriors had poured in 29 points in the opening eight minutes of the third, the offensive onslaught belonged to the Timberwolves and in particular Malik Beasley.

His series of triples seemed to deflate the Warriors, a game destined for a close finish quickly turning into a comfortable Minnesota victory.

It’s hard not to look back at the impact of the controversial call at halftime, along with those made halfway through the third. After the Warriors led 77-73, the Timberwolves finished on a 46-22 run across the last 17 minutes of the game.

Poole finished with a game-high 20 for the Dubs, while Kuminga produced 19 points and seven rebounds in 33 minutes. With Draymond Green sidelined for a further two weeks, the Warriors will get a greater sense of what their exciting rookie can offer in the short term.

That’ll start on Tuesday with a matchup against the Detroit Pistons, with Golden State commencing a seven-game home trip they’ll hope can reignite their best form.