Curry, Warriors cruise to 137-114 win over Timberwolves
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Stephen Curry had 25 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, Jordan Poole pitched in 24 points off the bench and the Golden State Warriors used a 47-point first quarter to spark a 137-114 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday.
Draymond Green had his first double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 assists for the Warriors. They have won five of their last six games since a team meeting Green facilitated in response to a sluggish start.
Green was the catalyst for this win, too.
“I’ve said for years Draymond is kind of the heartbeat of our team,” coach Steve Kerr said.
Klay Thompson went 5 for 8 from deep for 21 points and tied Joe Johnson (1,978) for 15th place on the NBA’S career list for 3-pointers,
helping the Warriors raise their perplexing road record to 2-9.
Andrew Wiggins added * 17 points against his old
team, and the Warriors went 20 for 47 from 3-point range to move above the .500 mark for the first time in a month.
“We’ve been in a good groove lately,” Wiggins said. “We’re playing together.”
The Warriors went 2 for 12 from 3-point range in the second quarter and still led by 20 points at the half, fueled by a faster tempo their offense has been at in recent weeks.
“Steve just told us to play for each other and to simplify things and when we do that,” Thompson said, “we’re the best in the world.”
Anthony Edwards scored 26 points for the Wolves. They were outrebounded 4731 and allowed their highest opponent score of the season.
“Our identity right now is super inconsistent, very Jekyll and Hyde,” coach Chris Finch said. “We’re not as physical or tough as I’d like us to be.”
The Wolves finally came to life early in the fourth quarter with a 19-4 run that brought them within 10 points for their closest margin since midway through the first quarter. Curry, who had missed his first three shots after re-entering at the 8:25 mark, coolly swished a 3 from the wing out of a Warriors timeout to stem the tide and push the lead to 121-108.
Karl-anthony Towns added 21 points and Jaylen Nowell had 16 points off the bench for the Wolves, whose bad habit of standing around on offense was more glaring against the passingand-cutting Warriors. The Wolves lost for the second time in two days after their five-game winning streak was stopped with a loss at Charlotte on Saturday.
“Teams like Golden State, you can just see it in the way that they operate,” Towns said. “It’s a well-oiled machine. Everything they do has such cohesiveness to it, and that’s because of the time they have spent with each other.”