SAN FRANCISCO – For the first 24 minutes Sunday night, the Timberwolves couldn’t get out of their own way against the Golden State Warriors.
They committed too many turnovers and they allowed the Warriors to grab too many offensive rebounds. The Wolves led by three at halftime, but the game was in their control; if they cleaned up their issues, they could win easily.
The Wolves once again showed why this season might be different from years past, as they came out with a renewed focus in the second half and pulled away in the third quarter for a 116-110 victory, their sixth consecutive win.
“The first half was ugly,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “… Once we got [those issues] corrected, I think there was a ton of room for improvement out there but at least we weren’t shooting ourselves in the foot and giving them second chances.”
Anthony Edwards, who was battling a cold, scored 33 points on 11-for-27 shooting but had eight consecutive Wolves points in the final minutes to keep Golden State at arms’ length. Karl-Anthony Towns pitched in 21 points on a more efficient 8-for-14 as the Wolves held Golden State to 39% shooting. Stephen Curry had 38 for Golden State.
After committing nine turnovers and allowing Golden State to grab 11 offensive rebounds in the first half, the Wolves cleaned up their act in the third quarter. They pulled away on the scoreboard with a 35-22 third quarter.
They were cleaning up the boards after one shot on defense and they held the Warriors to only 8-for-22 shooting from the field. Their half-court defense was strong all night, they just needed to end possessions. Offensively, the Wolves played as strong a quarter as they have all season in shooting 14-for-21. That gave them an 89-73 lead after three quarters.
“Had to take control of the possession game,” Finch said. “You’re never going to win against a team like this if you don’t hold serve in the possession game.”
The Warriors tried to make a push several times in the fourth. They got as close as 10 points multiple times, but the Wolves were able to hold them off with enough stops and enough buckets to keep it from becoming a tight game.
The Wolves began the night by holding Golden State to 2-for-12 to start. But as has become an issue of late, they allowed a team to hit the offensive glass early in a game. The Wolves couldn’t build a big early lead because of the nine second-chance points the Warriors had in the first quarter.
They also committed six turnovers in the first quarter, including one from Naz Reid on an inbound pass following a Dario Saric bucket at the end of the quarter. Curry grabbed it and scored before the buzzer for a 31-29 Warriors lead after one.
Golden State led by as many as eight in the second quarter before the Wolves cut down their turnovers and went on a 13-2 run that gave them the lead back. Their half-court defense held the Warriors to only 39% shooting in the first half with Curry accounting for 18 of the points.
But when the Wolves went into halftime, they left their first-half issues in the locker room.
“We talked a lot about that the other day,” Finch said. “You have to get better through winning. I thought [Sunday] we left a lot of meat on the bone. I thought we could play better … we got to keep getting better through winning, which is a challenge in itself.”