MINNEAPOLIS — — Anthony Edwards scored 23 points and made 3 of 4 free throws in the final 12 seconds for the Minnesota Timberwolves in a 114-110 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night.
Naz Reid had 20 points and a season-high 12 rebounds and Rudy Gobert added 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Wolves, who tied their season best with 21 3-pointers.
Steph Curry scored 31 points for the Warriors, but he missed the game-tying 3-point try with 1:27 left. Gobert converted both free throws at the other end to take a five-point lead.
After rebounding a forced 3-pointer from Edwards with 22.6 seconds left, Curry took the rebound all the way for a layup that cut the lead to one. But Edwards fouled out and made two foul shots. Then he rebounded Klay Thompson’s missed 3-pointer from the wing.
Mike Conley added 14 points and seven assists for the Wolves (49-22), who are a game behind Denver (50-21) in the Western Conference race and a half-game behind Oklahoma City (49 -21). The Nuggets overtook the Thunder, who lost at Milwaukee on Sunday.
The Warriors led by 12 points in the first half and 54-46 at intermission, but with the most prolific 3-point shooter in NBA history on the other side in Curry, the Wolves staged a outdoor shooting demonstration in tribute. .
With Curry resting late in the third quarter and early in the fourth, the subs carried the Wolves in their push forward with a +12 streak. Nickeil Alexander-Walker made three 3-pointers during that run.
It was Golden State’s only visit to Minnesota this season, giving both teams more than four months to calm down after the Wolves won back-to-back games in San Francisco, the second of which Draymond Green was ejected in the opening minutes for having put Gobert in a draw. headlock.
The Warriors (36-34) were hampered by their lack of effort in a 12-point loss to Indiana at home on Friday, still trying to fall into 10th place in the Western Conference for the final spot in play-in in a precarious position with the rise of Houston (35-35) one game behind them.
It was an encouraging response, beginning a journey of five games in eight days, but the ending didn’t hold up at first.
The Wolves had eight turnovers in their first 17 possessions in less than eight minutes, and they set a season low with 18 points in the first quarter, but Reid came to their rescue again.
The fan favorite, who delighted the Target Center crowd with 18 points at his beach towel handout party Friday in a decisive win over Cleveland, made his first five 3-point attempts to steady an offense that was otherwise out of step with the strays. dribbling, awkward spacing and dropped balls.
Reid is averaging 14.6 points in 15 career games against the Warriors, the second-highest of his career against any other NBA team.
FOLLOWING
Warriors: Visit Miami on Tuesday.
Timberwolves: Host Detroit on Wednesday.
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