Warriors eventually find flow without Green, beat Wolves
Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) celebrates his 3-point basket against the Minnesota Timberwolves during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Nov. 26, 2016 in Oakland, Calif. AP
OAKLAND, Calif. — Do-everything Draymond Green is fiery, vocal and brings energy on both ends of the court.
On a night the Golden State Warriors were without their emotional leader, it took them a while to find a flow.
Stephen Curry had 34 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and Golden State overcame Green’s absence to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 115-102 on Saturday night for their 11th straight victory.
“It wasn’t as loud, obviously,” Klay Thompson said of missing Green. “Collectively we had to raise our voices to make up for it.”
Curry shot 13 for 19 with four 3-pointers, while Kevin Durant added 28 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and a career-high six blocked shots — the Warriors’ first time ever having someone finish with at least 25 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and five blocks. Thompson scored 23 points with four 3s.
Durant figured he had to do more.
“Especially tonight. We missed Draymond,” Durant said. “We were a little stagnant early.”
Green sat out a day after bruising his left ankle at Los Angeles in a collision with teammate Ian Clark, who also missed the game after being hit in the throat on the play.
“Without Ian and Draymond our bench was thinned out,” coach Steve Kerr said.
Zach LaVine scored 31 points with five 3s, while Karl-Anthony Towns had 12 of his 18 points in the first quarter on 6-for-10 shooting. He then quieted down and missed five of his next six attempts before a three-point play with 4:03 remaining to make it a 10-point game.
Without Green, Golden State lacked offensive flow and an interior defensive presence against Towns until finding some rhythm late in the first half and early in the second.
The Warriors went off for a franchise-record 47 assists in their previous home game three nights earlier against the Lakers, but managed only 25 Saturday.
Golden State didn’t get its first field goal of the second quarter until 7:41 remaining on Durant’s three-point play.
“It’s good to see that we can step up in a guy like Draymond’s absence and still have contributions from other guys on the floor,” Curry said.
Kevon Looney made his first career start in place of Green and had six points, three rebounds and two assists in 18 minutes.
Curry’s 17 third-quarter points were his second-most in a quarter this season.
Minnesota handed Golden State one of only two home defeats last regular season, 124-117 in overtime on April 5 — just the Timberwolves’ second win in the last 17 meetings, including Saturday.
The Warriors won their sixth straight home game since a 129-100 season-opening loss to San Antonio, and ninth in 11 meetings with Minnesota dating to 2013.
TIP-INS
Timberwolves: Former Warriors G Brandon Rush was welcomed back on the video board during a first-quarter timeout, and he smiled and waved. … A night after getting 15 steals — five by Ricky Rubio — and forcing 26 turnovers, Minnesota managed only nine steals among the 18 turnovers by Golden State. … The Wolves will host the Warriors on Dec. 11, and Golden State has a nine-game winning streak at Minnesota.
Warriors: Curry had his sixth 30-point performance of the season, while he, Durant and Thompson each went over 20 points in the same game for the seventh time. … Golden State’s streak of 10 straight games with 30 or more assists was snapped. … The Warriors are 36-7 in the second game playing on consecutive nights dating to 2014-15, including 3-1 this season. … They shot above 50 percent for the third straight game. … Golden State wore its slate alternate jerseys for the first time at home, improving to 24-2 all-time in that uniform.
THIBODEAU’S INFLUENCE
First-year Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau paid the Warriors a couple of visits last season in his year out of NBA coaching, a chance to observe Kerr’s practices and catch up with old pal Ron Adams, Golden State’s assistant and defensive guru.
“It was fun to pick his brain and share knowledge and insight,” Kerr said.
Thibodeau called the Warriors “something we aspire to be.”
“Golden State was a good model for us,” he said of focusing on improvement. “They went step by step.”
UP NEXT
Timberwolves: Host the Utah Jazz on Monday for a quick two-game visit home.
Warriors: Host Atlanta on Monday in the second game of a five-game homestand and look to beat the Hawks at home for the fifth time in a row.
