SAN FRANCISCO – The gold-clad, sold-out Chase Heart crowd let loose one groan after one other as they watched what might be the ultimate Warriors dwelling recreation of the season slip away in opposition to the Timberwolves on Monday night time.
What started as a second consecutive aggressive recreation with Steph Curry and his injured left hamstring on the sidelines was a 117-110 Timberwolves victory and a 3-1 sequence deficit for the Warriors.
The 18,064 paying spectators noticed Jonathan Kuminga rating 23 as a uncommon vivid spot for the workforce, but additionally watched Jimmy Butler put up simply 14 on a quiet 5-for-9 taking pictures night time. Golden State as a complete shot simply 43.5% from the sphere as Anthony Edwards (30 factors), Julius Randle (31 factors) and the Wolves’ protection pulled away.
After going into halftime up two factors, the Warriors noticed their lead evaporate because the Wolves launched into a 21-2 run beginning with two Rudy Gobert free throws.
The Warriors left the third quarter trailing by 20 after a 12-minute stretch stuffed with fruitless Golden State drives, turnovers and a parade of made Timberwolves jumpers.
The 7-foot-3 Gobert was an unsolvable impediment within the paint, blocking only one shot however stifling the Warriors’ drives whereas Edwards made three 3-pointers to provide the Wolves an 80-68 lead with 5:30 left within the quarter.
As Curry appeared helplessly on from the bench, the Warriors went virtually 5 minutes with out scoring some extent and had been outscored 39-17 throughout the interval.
The fourth quarter was a mere formality, with coach Steve Kerr waiving the white flag and placing in reserves with 4:30 left. The benchwarmers minimize into the deficit in rubbish time, albeit in opposition to the Wolves’ starters.
It was a stark departure from the depth of the sport’s starting.
Through the pregame shootaround, the Warriors spoke concerning the significance of taking part in with tempo.
Draymond Inexperienced and Kuminga confirmed they took the message to coronary heart, pushing the tempo at each alternative in opposition to the athletic Wolves and serving to give the Warriors a 28-27 first-quarter lead.
That continued within the second quarter, when Buddy Hield took benefit of open area to attain 10 factors, whereas Kuminga used his tempo to blow previous Naz Ried for eight factors and a 60-58 lead after 24 minutes.
All of it fell aside after halftime, although, because the Warriors made solely two 3-pointers within the second half — each throughout rubbish time.
The Warriors will attempt to maintain their season alive once they play Sport 5 in Minneapolis on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. PT.
