Durant (left), Thompson lead Warriors to seventh straight win.
Thompson leads onslaught with 10-point flourish
No player offers a better gauge of the Warriors’ performance than Klay Thompson. When his teammates are spread throughout the floor, powering through screens and making the extra pass, he tends to be at his catch-and-shoot best.
So perhaps it was little surprise that, when Golden State finally settled into a groove in the fourth quarter of its 116-99 win Friday night over Minnesota at Oracle Arena, Thompson was leading the onslaught. Over those final 12 minutes, he poured in 10 of his 22 points as the Warriors pulled away from the Timberwolves.
“When Klay’s going, and we’ve got KD and Steph going, we’re pretty hard to beat,” forward Kevon Looney said. “We space the floor so much, and you’ve got to pick your poison. You help off KD and Steph, then Klay’s going to be wide open.”
Down 87-83 at the end of the third quarter, Golden State blitzed Minnesota 33-12 in the fourth for its seventh straight victory. The Timberwolves missed 18 of their 23 shots as they piled up four turnovers — not a horrendous number, but ugly given that they had only one through the first three periods.
The Warriors overcame an off night from beyond the arc by dishing out 31 assists and dominating Minnesota on the glass,
61-39. It wasn’t aesthetically pleasing at times, but Golden State made one thing certain: It can out-tough opponents, too.
And that is a scary notion for the rest of the NBA. Less than three weeks into the season, the Warriors sit atop the Western Conference at 9-1. Thompson, Stephen Curry (28 points, nine rebounds, seven assists), Kevin Durant (33 points, 13 rebounds) and Draymond Green (nine points, 11 assists) are working off each other as well as they ever have this early.
It also doesn’t hurt that Golden State is getting timely contributions from unheralded reserves like Jonas Jerebko (seven points) and Alfonzo McKinnie (eight points, eight rebounds). With DeMarcus Cousins nearing his return from a torn left Achilles tendon, the Warriors look the part of prohibitive championship favorites.
“Our fourth-quarter defense was tremendous,” Golden State head coach Steve Kerr said. “Everybody flying to the ball. I thought Draymond set the tone. I’m not sure I’ve seen Draymond play better since I’ve been here.”
In important ways, the Warriors and Timberwolves have been lessons in contrasts this season. Golden State is a basketball utopia of sorts, and Minnesota is the league’s most compelling soap opera. Seldom has a day passed in recent weeks without more stories surfacing about Jimmy Butler wanting off the team.
During the preseason, Butler interrupted a practice, trashtalking everyone from the owner to the head coach to the general manager to teammates Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins. That Minnesota managed to arrive at Oracle Arena with a .500 record was a testament to its talent.
But regardless of what teams are dealing with behind closed doors, they tend to deliver inspired performances against the Warriors. Off-the-court drama becomes obsolete when faced with the challenge of playing the back-to-back NBA champions, especially in Oakland.
Through three quarters Friday, Minnesota did as good a job as any team this season of throwing Golden State off rhythm. The Timberwolves switched off screens, got hands on shooters and, astoundingly, committed just a single turnover in those first 36 minutes.
By the start of the fourth, Minnesota was up four points and had traded leads 11 times with the Warriors. The problem for the Timberwolves is that motivation usually can overcome a sizable talent deficit for only so long.
Within an 83-second span early in the fourth, Thompson followed an 18-foot jumper with two three-pointers to give Golden State back the lead. Minnesota had no answer. With little resistance from the Timberwolves, the Warriors did what they do best: spread the floor, make the extra pass and convert open looks.
By the time Curry made a driving layup with 44.3 seconds left to push Golden State’s lead to 17, much of Oracle Arena had emptied out.
Fans had seen this script before: The Warriors are the rare team that needs only a quarter to blow out a formidable opponent.
Asked postgame Friday how he felt in the fourth quarter, Thompson said, “I feel great at all times because we get to play basketball for a living. … It’s been a great start to our first 10 games.”