The Minnesota Timberwolves will get an opportunity to avenge their most lopsided loss of the season when they host the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night in Minneapolis.
The game is a rematch of a 137-114 Warriors romp at Minnesota in November on a night in which Golden State had all hands on deck for one of the few times all season.
The type of depth that helped carry the Warriors to the 2022 championship was on full display, with Stephen Curry scoring 25 points, Jordan Poole 24, Klay Thompson 21, Draymond Green 19, Andrew Wiggins 17 and Donte DiVincenzo 14. Curry (11 rebounds) and Green (11 assists) recorded double-doubles.
Curry (35 games played) and Wiggins (30) have combined for 35 absences in Golden State’s 50 games this season, while Thompson (39) and Green (45) have gotten some nights off to preserve their 30-something bodies.
The club has gotten whole again, however, with the return of Wiggins for Monday’s trip-opener at Oklahoma City, a game the Warriors won 128-120.
Curry scored 38 points, Thompson added 28 and Wiggins and Poole contributed 15 apiece. Green chipped in with seven points, nine rebounds and 12 assists.
Along with the team’s third straight win came more individual acclaim for Curry, who passed Wilt Chamberlain for the all-time franchise lead in field goals, which stood at 7,216.
The win was just the Warriors’ seventh of the season on the road. Counting a 120-114 triumph at Cleveland on Jan. 20 in their previous road game, they have consecutive victories away from home for the first time this season.
The Timberwolves had a nice thing going at home, winning two straight to tip off a six-game homestand before falling 118-111 to the Sacramento Kings in overtime Monday. The outcome snapped a four-game home winning streak.
Anthony Edwards paced the hosts with 33 points, continuing a late roll that has likely earned him additional consideration from the Western Conference coaches as they fill out their ballots for All-Star reserves.
Edwards has averaged 34.0 points, shooting 53.6 percent overall and 50.8 percent on 3-pointers over the Timberwolves’ past six games.
Edwards had 26 points and Karl-Anthony Towns scored 21 in the earlier loss to Golden State. Towns has missed Minnesota’s past 32 games with a strained right calf.
The Warriors and Timberwolves will enter the game separated by just a half-game in the tightly packed Western Conference playoff standings. Before Tuesday’s action, Golden State was in fifth place in the West and Minnesota was ninth.
