Familiar comeback tale crushes Warriors again despite explosive Stephen Curry return

The Golden State Warriors have suffered a familiar failed comeback tale against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night, having already fallen short in epic comebacks efforts against the Oklahoma City Thunder and Philadelphia 76ers in the last 10 days.

The Warriors trailed by 12 in the fourth-quarter after giving up a 17-0 run, only to climb back and take a three-point lead with less than two minutes remaining. But just like those Thunder and 76er matchups, Golden State were unable to execute down the stretch as the Timberwolves stole a 127-120 victory at Chase Center.

Stephen Curry's explosive return went unrewarded against the Timberwolves

This failed comeback will sting the Warriors a little more given this time they had the services of 2x MVP Stephen Curry, not to mention the Timberwolves were without their own superstar in Anthony Edwards who watched on from the sidelines.

Curry hardly missed a beat in his return from a five-game absence due to a quad injury, going for a game-high 39 points on 14-of-28 shooting from the floor, along with five rebounds and five assists in 32 minutes.

Curry pulled off an array of dazzling moves at the basket, while also adding six threes including two in the final three and a half minutes. Unfortunately former teammate Donte DiVincenzo matched the 37-year-old down the stretch, scoring eight points in the final 1:50 to lift Minnesota to victory.

While the Timberwolves had five players score at least 17 points on the night, the Warriors had only Curry reach that mark as they struggled to find a second go-to scorer. Quinten Post had 16 points and six rebounds, but shot just 5-of-15 from the floor and 4-of-11 from 3-point range which included a crucial miss on a wide-open three with a minute remaining and Golden State down one.

Jimmy Butler had 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists on 6-of-11 shooting, yet it was the sort of performance where fans would have liked the 6x All-Star to be more of an offensive factor. Moses Moody and De'Anthony Melton combined for 20 points off the bench, but shot just 1-of-6 from beyond the arc as the Warriors nailed only 15-of-46 (32.6%) as a team.

Steve Kerr started Pat Spencer and Buddy Hield alongside Curry in his return. The former had 12 points, five rebounds and four assists in 28 minutes, only to shoot 5-of-13 from the floor.

Golden State were still without both Draymond Green and Al Horford, yet they'll walk away extremely disappointed with the loss against a direct Western Conference rival playing without their best player. The Warriors will now head to Portland ahead of a game against the Trail Blazers on Sunday.