What we learned as Steph posted 23 shutouts with Timberwolves was originally published on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO — Stephen Curry scored 23 points in his return to the Golden State lineup, but the Warriors couldn’t find a reliable second scoring option in a 107-90 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night at the Chase Center.
Curry, who missed Thursday’s game against the Houston Rockets with lingering bilateral knee soreness, shot 6-of-17 (3-of-9 from beyond the arc), made all eight free throws and had four assists in 32 minutes.
Jonathan Kuminga had a 13-point, two-rebound night after gluing the Rockets to a career-high 33 points.
Andrew Wiggins scored 11 points before leaving the game with ankle pain. Draymond Green, who sat out the previous two games, was relieved and added 10 points, nine rebounds and five assists in his first time coming off the bench this season.
Moses Moody also left the game with a left knee injury and did not return.
Golden State (13-9) has lost five straight and six of its last seven against Minnesota (12-10).
The Warriors got off to a good start, struggling mightily in the second quarter, then looked poised for a big third-quarter run until a foul tip changed the momentum. After Gary Payton II appeared to score and was fouled — a potential three-point play that would have cut the deficit to 75-69 — the officials reviewed the play and changed the call to an offensive foul on Payton.
The Warriors made another surge in the fourth quarter to pull within 80-77 on Curry’s 3-pointer with 10:38 left before the Wolves pulled away for good.
The teams will play each other again on Sunday at the Chase Center.
Here are the highlights from Friday’s game:
Draymond does it off the bench
Playing as a reserve for the first time since returning from last year’s NBA lockout, Green didn’t miss a beat, whipping out his usual dose of basketball.
In the first quarter alone, the four-time All-Star collected eight points, four rebounds and an assist in six and a half minutes.
But it wasn’t all flowers and balloons. After absorbing a hard hit and falling to the field, Green got up and yelled at the referee, who thought a foul should have been called. Instead, the refs hit Green with a technical foul — Green’s seventh of the season.
Tterrible twos
The Warriors came out strong, scoring 31 points in the first quarter, but hit a wall in the second period with just 15 points.
Golden State’s offense lacked rhythm or flow, allowing Minnesota to pull away and build a double-digit lead. The Warriors shot terribly (5-of-19 overall, 1-of-9 on 3-pointers), committed four turnovers, scored just four points in the first 9 minutes of the third and fell behind by 19.
It was easily one of the Warriors’ worst quarters of the season, and it would have been even worse had they not put together a small lead in the final minutes.
Buddy’s buckets don’t fall
Buddy Hield was a scoring machine early in the season, averaging 16.9 points and 49.1 percent from the floor in the Warriors’ first 13 games.
Since then, Hield has been shooting a lot of blanks.
In the previous eight games, Hield’s shooting dropped to 34.2 percent. He was just 1 of 8 from the floor against the Houston Rockets on Thursday, then connected on 2 of 4 shots against the Wolves.
Coach Steve Kerr didn’t seem overly concerned, saying before the game that it was just the normal ebb and flow of the season.
Despite all of that, Hield is still nearing the milestone. The sharpshooter needs eight more 3s to become 17thTh player in NBA history to have 2,000 for his career.
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