Golden State Warriors earn revenge with their own fourth-quarter comeback against Timberwolves

The Golden State Warriors have escaped with another crucial victory, climbing back from a major hole to claim a 109-104 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves at Chase Center on Sunday.

Minnesota had fought back from a 14-point deficit to earn a five-point win in the teams’ last matchup on February 1, but this time it was Golden State’s turn to produce their own comeback. The reigning champions rallied from two separate double-digit deficits, including a 12-point fourth-quarter margin, to get a five-point win of their own.

The Golden State Warriors put on a defensive clinic during the fourth-quarter to record a big time win over their conference rivals.

Klay Thompson led the way again with 32 points, but it was the Warriors job on Timberwolves’ star Anthony Edwards that proved the difference. Facing a myriad of different matchups and zone defense, the 21-year-old struggled with just 12 points on 5-for-19 shooting.

Starting in place of the injured Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns, Naz Reid had a career-high 30 points built on the back of an 18-point, six-rebound opening period. Minnesota scored the first seven points of the game and controlled the majority of the first-quarter, holding a 34-25 lead as the Warrior offense failed to gather momentum.

Golden State did manage to slowly turn the tables during the second, fighting back with a 34-23 period as Thompson gave them their first lead on the final play of the half. It was an even offensive production from the hosts, with four of their starters scoring in double figures and their fifth, Jonathan Kuminga, scoring eight.

Both teams came out hot early in the third, going back and forth as Thompson exploded for 12 points in the opening six minutes. But just like that the rim seemingly closed abruptly, with the Warriors scoring just two points over the final 6:10 of the third in what’s becoming a concerning trend.

Minnesota extended their lead, but fortunately for Golden State, there was no knockout punch like what’s been seen in previous games. Still, a Nickeil Alexander-Walker corner three at the buzzer gave the Timberwolves a nine-point advantage heading to the final period.

Austin Rivers pushed that to 12 on the first possession of the fourth, but neither team was able to swing serious momentum their way in the first few minutes. That changed when the Warriors produced a 9-0 run to tie the game at 96 with 4:48 to play. It then became the Thompson show for Golden State — a beautiful pump fake and find for a Donte DiVincenzo three gave the Warriors the lead, before he nailed his own triple to extend the lead to six.

A Kevon Looney putback layup made the margin eight with a minute to play, but any thought of an easy close failed to come to fruition. Multiple turnovers breathed unnecessary life into the game, and Jordan McLaughlin had a chance to tie it with a corner three in the final ten seconds. That attempt proved no good, and eventually the Warriors fell over the line in rather unconvincing fashion.

Their defense had been dominant late, even in the absence of Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green. The Timberwolves managed just nine points from the 11:27 mark of the fourth until 47 seconds remaining in the ball game. They would shoot just 42.2% from the field and would come to regret ten missed free-throws from their 21 attempts. That was truly the difference — each team had 16 turnovers, the Warriors shot 42.9% and made 16 of their 21 free-throw attempts.

DiVincenzo was huge alongside Thompson, stuffing the stat sheet with 21 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals. Looney had 12 points and a massive 17 rebounds in another double-double, while Poole (15) and Kuminga (13) rounded out the starters’ production.

The win has multiple layers for Golden State — they win the season series against Minnesota, edge above .500 at 31-30, and succumb the Timberwolves below .500 at 31-32. The big matchups keep on coming as the Portland Trail Blazers get set to pay a visit to Chase Center on Tuesday.