The Golden State Warriors defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 114-106 on Sunday, as Stephen Curry paced the team with 30 points, Gary Payton II played lockdown defense against Anthony Edwards, and Draymond Green put the finishing touches in the final seconds. Moreover, Green iced the game with a cold move: taking Rudy Gobert off the dribble before flushing it down with a ferocious dunk, and then hitting Curry's “Night Night” celebration.
Check out the whole sequence in this replay from ClutchPoints on X, formerly Twitter.
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Warriors take it home
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) acknowledges Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23)) after a basket against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second period at Chase Center.
© David Gonzales-Imagn Images
There's no love lost between Green and Gobert, particularly after Green put Gobert in a chokehold a few seasons ago. So, it makes sense for the Warriors' defensive mastermind to troll the four-time Defensive Player of the Year en route to their victory.
Moreover, Draymond Green decided to add insult to injury by hitting Stephen Curry's famous “Night Night” celly, a confirmation that the game has already ended in favor of the Warriors.
With this win, the Warriors avoided consecutive losses and gave them some momentum heading to their NBA Cup game versus the Houston Rockets.
Their wins didn't just come from scorching offense, but also stifling defense, as key new signing Buddy Hield scored 27 points while Payton II limited Edwards and stopped the Wolves from making a late-game comeback.
Obviously, the Warriors had also remembered the Timberwolves–courtesy of the Ant-Man's 30 points–torching them in the fourth quarter en route to a comfortable 107-90 win.
The Wolves had also routed both Los Angeles teams in the past week, limiting them to 80 points. However, the Warriors made some adjustments to key in on Edwards defensively.
Defense when it counts
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“Ant is an incredible player,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after the game, via Monte Poole for Yahoo Sports. “Late in the third quarter, he had it rolling. At that point, it's just put your best defender on him. You don't really want to send a double team because you got other guys knocking down shots.”
True enough, the strategy worked, as Edwards went only 1-7 in the final period and turned the ball over in critical junctures, especially the one that gave Hield an open three to push the lead to 112-106.
“We just wanted Gary to play him straight-up, give him some help in the gaps, trying to make things crowded without double-teaming,” Kerr added.
With the loss, the Timberwolves fell to 12-11 while the Warriors improve to 14-9. However, such is the competitiveness of the Western Conference that the ninth-place Wolves is only three games behind the fifth-place Warriors.
Still, as the season progresses, could the Warriors continue their success without giving Stephen Curry a star-caliber running mate?