SAN FRANCISCO – The Warriors and Timberwolves are jockeying for position in the jumbled Western Conference standings, and both weren't close to full strength.
For the Wolves, Sunday represented a chance to get an important road win against Golden State when it was without three of its starters in Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins.
But the Wolves relinquished a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter and dropped a gettable game 109-104 despite Golden State being so shorthanded.
Naz Reid helped make up for the absence of Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns with a career-high 30 points, but it couldn't compensate for Anthony Edwards scoring only 12 on 5-for-19 shooting. Klay Thompson had 32 for the Warriors, who improved to 31-30, a game ahead of the Wolves (31-32).
Once again, the Wolves offense went stagnant late in the game as Golden State took over after the Wolves had a 99-96 lead with 4 minutes, 35 seconds to play. The Wolves didn't score for the next 3:49 as the Warriors scored the next 11 points.
The Wolves had a chance to tie the score down 107-104 following a Mike Conley steal, but Jordan McLaughlin missed a three from the left corner with 13.3 seconds left.
Mistakes and poor rebounding doomed the Wolves in the first half, as they committed 11 turnovers and allowed Golden State to score 14 second-chance points. That caused their early 14-point lead to evaporate.
The Wolves regained the lead in the third thanks in part to a strong defensive effort. They held the Warriors to only 19 points and hit 6-for-11 from three-point range, which allowed them to take a 87-78 lead into the fourth.
The Wolves were ahead by 10 in the fourth, but again down the stretch, they couldn't execute on offense or hit open looks when they had them.
