Warriors haunted again by personal boogeymen Timberwolves

[ad_1]

Warriors haunted again by personal boogeymen Timberwolves originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – Should the Warriors find their way into the NBA playoffs, the Western Conference team that looms as their personal boogeyman was the one they saw Friday night.

The Warriors couldn’t beat the Minnesota Timberwolves in four tries last season and the first meeting between the teams this season, a 107-90 loss, pushes that streak to five consecutive losses.

Golden State still doesn’t have antidotes to the myriad problems posed by the Timberwolves, who hibernated through the first month of the season but are among the NBA’s hottest teams.

The Warriors took an early 15-8 lead, watched it disappear in 90 seconds and spent the next 39 minutes facing deficits that ranged as high as 23.

“We fell down 19 in the second quarter, and then had a good finish to the second and a great run in the third to cut it to three,” coach Steve Kerr said. “We felt like we were right where we needed to be. But it got away from us again early in that fourth quarter.”

Although the Warriors have a dramatically different roster, and Minnesota also made a couple of significant changes, the result is the same.

The Timberwolves still have an answer for nearly every problem the Warriors pose. Minnesota has a legitimate star in Anthony Edwards but so much more. Rudy Gobert is a deterrent at the rim, Jaden McDaniels is a terrific wing defender and still holds his own at both ends.

With their size, agility, athleticism and patience, the Wolves seem to live for the “privilege” of using defense to torture opponents before strangling them.

With Jonathan Kuminga struggling (13 points, 6-of-15 shooting from the field, minus-7 in 29 minutes) and Andrew Wiggins gritting his teeth until his right ankle gave out in the third quarter, the Warriors were reduced to hoping Stephen Curry could muster enough offense to keep them afloat.

Though that normally is a good bet, Curry is trying to ignore the stubborn soreness afflicting both knees. His 32 minutes illustrate the vigor of his heart, his 6-of-17 shooting tells the story of his aching…

[ad_2]
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/warriors-haunted-again-personal-boogeymen-070826486.html

Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2024-12-07 07:08:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.