Shock loss puts Warriors’ chance of record in doubt
The Golden State Warriors will have to run the table over their final four games to achieve the most successful regular-season record in NBA history.
But after their second stunning Oracle Arena defeat in less than a week, they may want to forget about records and focus on playing a lot better basketball.
Blowing a 17-point third quarter lead and committing 24 turnovers, the Warriors were stunned by an athletic and inspired Minnesota Timberwolves team in overtime, 124-117, and they’ll now have to wait just to become the second team in league annals to achieve 70 wins.
Even though the Warriors were back at full strength with the return of forward Andre Iguodala and center Andrew Bogut, they were out of sync and sloppy for much of the night. They appeared to have the game in hand when they opened a 17-point lead mid- way through the third quarter but allowed the Wolves to roar back and tie the game at 94 on Shabazz Muhammad’s corner 3-pointer with 6:39 to go in the game.
From there, it was a tight battle the rest of the way. Leading 106-103, Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns drove for a layup and a potential three-point play when Stephen Curry was called for a blocking foul with 1:09 to go. But the play was reviewed and overturned as a charge on Towns.
But the Warriors still couldn’t put it away. Muhammad made a free throw with 53.3 seconds left and Andrew Wiggins drove for a layup with 19.8 seconds to go to tie in regulation. Iguodala’s chance for a game-winner from the corner came after the fourth quarter buzzer sounded and was off the mark anyway.
The Timberwolves, led by their future stars Wiggins and Towns, took over the extra period, handing Golden State its first overtime loss after six victories in extra sessions. Draymond Green fouled out with 2:34 to go in overtime and the Warriors could never regain the lead after Wiggins scored four points to open the OT with two free throws and a running 10-footer.
Muhammad scored 35 off the bench for Minnesota while Wiggins poured in 32 points and Towns had 20 points with 12 rebounds for the Wolves, who won’t be going to the playoffs but will surely savor handing the Warriors their ninth loss of the year against 69 wins. Golden State had beaten Minnesota seven straight times and 20 of the last 23 meetings before yesterday.
The Warriors, meanwhile, must figure out what went wrong before meeting their primary rivals in the Western Conference, the San Antonio Spurs, on Friday (NZ time) night at Oracle.
Klay Thompson led the Warriors with 28 points while Curry scored 21, but Curry managed to hit just 7 of 25 shots, including only 4 of 14 from 3-point range.