Warriors waste another historic Steph Curry performance in loss to Timberwolves originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – Another bad Warriors loss was added to a growing list Friday night, even in Steph Curry’s sensational return against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Chase Center.
Curry played his first game in 16 days after missing the Warriors’ previous five because of a left quad contusion. He played 32 minutes and scored a game-high 39 points, including 23 in the second half and 14 in the second half. The result still was a Warriors loss, falling 127-120 against a Timberwolves team that was without its own superstar in Anthony Edwards.
The loss dropped the Warriors back to .500 again with a 13-13 record this season. Curry has now scored 30-plus points in eight games this season, and the Warriors also are a .500 team when he does so, going 4-4 thus far.
“I mean, he was Steph,” Quinten Post said after the loss. “He really got going in that second half, and then as a team it sucks that we couldn’t help him to a win.”
A healed Curry was back on the court after watching the final two games of the Warriors’ previous homestand from the bench and then staying back during their three-game road trip to rehab at the team facilities. But he apparently lost his starting spot at point guard.
Of course, that’s only semi-true and semi-sarcastic.
Curry started in his first game since Nov. 26, though he had a new backcourt mate. Curry previously had started alongside Brandin Podziemski, Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody as the Warriors’ two guards in a season that has seen little semblance and consistency in the first five on the floor. Steve Kerr on Friday night opted to go with the hot hand next to Curry.
What’s the perfect complement to a Splash Brother? Perhaps a legendary Lax Bro who has become a Warriors fan-favorite. Pat Spencer started his third straight game to follow his head-turning road trip. Improvements as a shooter and the willingness to shoot behind the 3-point line made Kerr comfortable starting two smaller guards together.
“Yeah, it’s a big deal. It’s the biggest thing,” Kerr said in his pregame press conference. “If he’s willing to take the shot, then it sets up the rest of his game and sets up our game. We want to get good shots, we want to get open threes so we can crash. We want the ball to move. For five-out spacing you’ve got to have a number of guys who can knock down that shot. Pat has proven that this year. It has changed him.”
The Warriors led 19-18 when Kerr first subbed Spencer out in the first quarter and broke up his new backcourt. Curry (10 points) and Spencer (five points) had combined for 15 of the Warriors’ first 19 points. The two of them were 3 of 6 from 3-point range in the first quarter while the rest of the Warriors missed all six of their threes. By halftime with the Warriors having a two-point lead, Curry was up to 16 points, four rebounds and three assists, and Spencer was at nine points, four rebounds and four assists.
“It’s reminiscent for me, like Jarrett Jack back in the day,” Curry said. “A guy that can just handle the ball. I was off the ball a lot in the first quarter, and on purpose with full confidence he can initiate the offense. I can get some off-ball actions and he knows how to move the ball. Yeah, it was different.
“Obviously we hadn’t played much this year, but anybody with high IQ I can play next to.”
Spencer struggled in the second half. He was a minus-19 in a little under 13 minutes, scoring just three points on 1-of-6 shooting. De’Anthony Melton was the closing guard next to Curry, a pairing Kerr envisions using often at the end of games.
“I think Melt will be in our closing lineup quite a bit this year,” Kerr said.
The Warriors entered the fourth quarter with a three-point lead and then found themselves in a 12-point hole with under six minutes remaining from a 17-0 Timberwolves run. A furious comeback put the Warriors back up by three, 117-114 at the 1:58 mark, only for the Timberwolves to reel off an 11-1 run to put the game away.
In a game where the Timberwolves didn’t have Edwards, they still had three players score at least 20 points. Curry was the only Warrior to reach the mark. Another two Timberwolves scored at least 17 points. The Warriors’ second-leading scorer, Quinten Post, wound up with 16.
Jonathan Kuminga was a healthy DNP for the second straight game after averaging 24 points against the Timberwolves without Curry in the final four games of the second round of the playoffs last season.
The scoring discrepancy was so bad that Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert scored 12 points in the fourth quarter while Warriors not named Curry scored 15.
“Just a tough way to end,” Curry said of the fourth quarter.
On a night where Curry continued to defy age and had his 94th career game of 35-plus points since turning 30 years old to pass Michael Jordan for the most all time, the Warriors still couldn’t earn a win to maintain the momentum they created on the road. The Warriors now have lost five games where the opposition has been without their star player, and Curry played in each one.
Not good enough.
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