SAN FRANCISCO – Karl-Anthony Towns scored 31 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and pulled down seven in the first 24 minutes. Despite a strong performance it wasn’t enough to stop the surging Warriors who defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 124-115 before another sellout crowd of 18,064 at Chase Center.
Golden State’s “The Big Three,” Stephen Curry scored 29 points and hit 6-of-10 on 3s. Klay Thompson chipped in with 23 and first-time All-Star Andrew Wiggins added 19 points in a huge win for the Warriors, who pulled within three games of the top-seeded Phoenix Suns in the highly contested Pacific Division of the Western Conference.
“I have not worried about Steph for the last month,” said Steve Kerr.
Jordan Poole continued to shine off the bench after starting the first 28 games of the season in place of Thompson. Poole joined “The Big Three,” in double figures, he scored 19 points.
“Its fun playing with those guys,” Wiggins said referring to both Curry and Thompson.
Wiggins went 7-for-12 from the field, on the same day he was named to the All-Star starting lineup along with Curry, Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets, Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies and LeBron James (Captain) of the Los Angeles Lakers.
“I thought I was dreaming,” explained Wiggins when he found out about being selected.
Otto Porter, Jr., scored 11 points on four of seven shooting, including going 1-of-2 from three-point range.
Kevon Looney played only 24 minutes, he was mired in foul trouble the entire game. He picked up four fouls in the first half and fouled out in the fourth quarter. Looney scored seven points and grabbed seven rebounds.
The Timberwolves were dealt a tough blow to start the third quarter, former Warriors guard D’Angelo Russell was forced to sit out the second half with a left shin contusion. Russell scored eight points, dished out five assists and grabbed four rebounds.
After trailing at the half by five points, Golden State exploded for 38 points in the third quarter to take a 95-81 lead in the fourth, but Minnesota would not go away. They opened the final 12 minutes on a 10-2 run in the first two minutes. But the Warriors were able to stave off the Wolves final push and won for the 35th time on the season against 13 losses.
Golden State was fantastic from arc, they went 21-for-36.
NOTES – This was the third meeting between the Warriors and the Timberwolves withGolden State leading the season series 2-1. The two teams will meet for the fourth and final time on March 1st at Target Center in Minneapolis.
Draymond Green, who is currently out with a calf and back injury, signed a multi-year deal with Turner Sports as a guest analyst.
“Only words of wisdom is when he analyzing the Warriors, not to bash his coach. He can only wear one hat when he talks about the Warriors, he can’t wear two,” Kerr said.
UP NEXT – The Warriors return to the court at Chase Center on Saturday night, when the Brooklyn Nets make their only regular season trip to the Bay Area. Game is at 5:30 PM PST on ABC.
The Timberwolves will close out a three-game road trip on Friday night against the Phoenix Suns at Footprint Center in Phoenix.
Photo by Warriors/Twitter
