Anthony Edwards put up a game-high 30 points, Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid anchored a stingy defense and the Minnesota Timberwolves ran away from the Golden State Warriors for a 107-90 triumph Friday night in San Francisco.
The clubs will meet in a rematch, also hosted by Golden State, on Sunday.
The Timberwolves used a 23-2 second-quarter flurry to erase an early deficit and pave the way to a fourth consecutive win.
The Warriors got within three in the third quarter and early in the fourth, but the visitors responded with suffocating defense and just enough offense in each case to protect their lead.
Edwards logged his sixth 30-plus-point game of the season. He made 11 of his 18 shots, including four of 10 3-point attempts, while also finding time for a game-high nine assists.
Gobert snatched a game-high 11 rebounds to complement 17 points. Reid blocked a pair of shots while also contributing nine points, 10 rebounds and two steals to the cause, helping the Timberwolves win a fifth straight over the Warriors dating back to the 2022-23 season.
Julius Randle added 16 points and nine rebounds, Mike Conley had 13 points and Jaden McDaniels put up 10 points for Minnesota, which outshot the hosts 45.5 percent to 39 percent overall and 33.3 percent to 28.2 percent on 3-point attempts.
Minnesota held a fourth straight opponent to 92 points or fewer, a stretch in which the Timberwolves are allowing just 85.5 points per game.
Stephen Curry returned from a one-game absence to pace the Warriors with 23 points, but he was harassed into 6-for-17 shooting overall and just 3-for-9 from deep.
Golden State’s Draymond Green, who missed the previous two games, provided 10 points, a team-high nine rebounds and a team-high six assists. The Warriors hurt themselves with 22 turnovers on the second night of a back-to-back set.
Coming off a career-high, 33-point effort Thursday night in a 99-93 home win over the Houston Rockets, Jonathan Kuminga chipped in with 13 points for Golden State. Andrew Wiggins had 11 before sitting out most of the second half with a sore ankle.
–Field Level Media