Warriors’ usually steady defense lets them down in close loss to Timberwolves originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – Missing their best defender and their 258-pound center, the results were fairly predictable for the Warriors as they squared off against the team that knocked them out of the NBA playoffs last season.
The Minnesota Timberwolves, who also were shorthanded and without their best overall player in Anthony Edwards, stormed into Chase Center and dealt Golden State a 127-120 loss to ruin Stephen Curry’s return to the lineup after a five-game absence.
While Edwards was nursing a sore foot, the rest of the Wolves were busy feasting on the Warriors, using their blend of size and strength to completely dominate Golden State in the paint while maintaining a steady and effective presence in the paint.
That wasn’t a complete surprise considering Golden State was without Draymond Green and Al Horford. Green is a former NBA Defensive Player of the Year and a nine-time All-Defensive Team selection, while Horford is a five-time All-Star who was selected to the 2017-18 All-Defensive Second Team.
The two have been very effective at clogging the middle for Golden State this season but neither suited up Friday, leaving the interior of the Warriors’ defense exposed.
Minnesota wisely took full advantage.
Wolves center Rudy Gobert went off for 24 points and 14 rebounds. Naz Reid came off the bench to back up Gobert and dropped a cool 18 points with seven assists.
“I thought our defense let us down tonight,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “We had several plays in transition in both halves where we lost sight of Naz Reid and a couple other shooters. I just thought our transition defense was poor.”
The Warriors somehow managed to make it close at the end but the breakdowns on defense eventually caught up to them.
Golden State had a 96-91 lead with 10 and a half minutes left before Reid got open for a 3-pointer. Gobert later scored three consecutive buckets on an alley-oop, a dunk and a tip-in while DiVincenzo sank a pair of wide-open 3s in the final 108 seconds.
“(Gobert) made his presence felt, obviously driving lanes,” Stephen Curry said. “He was getting offensive rebounds. He was getting those little drop-down passes and everything at the rim. Draymond and Al understand how to make the impact, make their presence felt against him, but we didn’t have them. We had to figure out a way to get it done, but we just didn’t.”
Quentin Post and Trayce Jackson-Davis did a serviceable job for much of the game but neither was a match for Gobert, who had 12 points and six rebounds in the fourth quarter.
Overall, Minnesota held a 66-44 scoring advantage in the paint.
“They played with a lot of size on the floor, and they made it hard on us rebounding and playing without fouling,” said Post, who had 16 points and six rebounds. “I thought we put them on the line way too much. It was a tough challenge for sure.”
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