Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry, left, and Minnesota Timberwolves’ Kevin Garnett race for a loose ball during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015, in Minneapolis. AP
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota—Stephen Curry scored 46 points, 21 in the first quarter, and the Golden State Warriors improved to 10-0 on the season with a 129-116 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night.
Curry hit 15 of 25 shots, including 8 of 13 3-pointers, in another breathtaking performance for the reigning MVP. Draymond Green had 23 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds for the Warriors, who are the fourth defending champion to start the season with at least 10 straight wins.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 17 points and 11 rebounds and Andrew Wiggins scored 19 points for the Timberwolves (4-4), who have lost all four home games this season. Ricky Rubio missed his second straight game with a strained left hamstring.
The Warriors went 18 for 38 from 3-point range while Minnesota was just 3 for 9.
The Warriors opened defense of their title as emphatically as possible, using potshots from the likes of the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers as fuel while blowing the doors off the league.
Curry has led the charge, shooting with a precision and range never before seen in this league. A human heat check, Curry has broken the league record for 3-pointers made in a season in each of the last two years, and is on pace to smash it again this year. He has topped 40 points in a game three times this season and his 52 3s are more than three teams have made all season.
One night after scoring 28 in a win over Memphis, he was 4 for 5 from deep in the first quarter and pushed the Warriors out to a 10-0 lead before the game was 90 seconds old.
Last year Russell Westbrook led the NBA with four 20-point quarters. Curry already has four in 10 games. He hit consecutive triples in the third quarter, one from 3 feet behind the arc for a 97-76 lead.
But the Timberwolves didn’t go away, ripping off an 18-2 run to pull within five early in the fourth quarter.
Curry followed with a 3 and a pull-up jumper and Klay Thompson buried another 3 in the corner to push the lead back to double digits.