With three minutes and 21 seconds remaining in the second quarter, the Golden State Warriors led the Minnesota Timberwolves 25-10. There was ample time left in the game, of course, but its remaining 40 minutes seemed something like a formality. That feeling wasn’t the just the result of a team chasing 73 wins facing a Western Conference bottom dweller on its home floor, either.
Golden State, after all, had won 114 consecutive games in which it once led the opposition by 15 points or more – a streak that was broken on Tuesday night. Behind eye-popping efforts from superstars-in-waiting Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns, the Timberwolves beat the Warriors 124-117 (OT) to register the most shocking win of the season.
Wiggins shook off early struggles to lead his young team’s stirring second-half comeback, finishing with 32 points (11-19 FGs), five rebounds, four assists, and a career-high six steals while making a bevy of clutch plays down the stretch. Towns came up big when it mattered most, too, playing dominant defense with the game in the balance and notching the bucket that put Minnesota up at least two possessions with less than a minute remaining.
The Rookie of the Year shoo-in ended the contest with 20 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Shabazz Muhammad, who scored a career-high 35 points on an incredible 12 shots and 17 free-throw attempts, kept the Timberwolves afloat before the fourth quarter and made some game-altering plays in crunch time as his team’s de facto power forward.
Steph Curry had 21 points, 15 assists, and six rebounds but shot just 7 of 25 from the floor and was held without a field goal in the first half. Draymond Green fouled out midway through overtime after 12 points, six rebounds, and nine assists, while Klay Thompson paced Golden State with 28 points on 12-of-22 shooting. Steve Kerr’s team committed 23 turnovers.
The Warriors want history, and Tuesday’s loss leaves them with no room for error as four games remain on the regular season schedule – two of which will come against the San Antonio Spurs, who are three and-a-half games behind first place in the West with five left to play. Will Curry and company win 73 games? The answer may depend whether Gregg Popovich decides to rest his regulars against Golden State.
But that’s a discussion for another time. For now, it’s time for league followers to revel in what the Timberwolves just did – and consider what else Wiggins, Towns, and the rest could do going forward.
