Warriors instant analysis: Steph Curry’s magnificent night not enough to lift Golden State past Wolves

SAN FRANCISCO The Warriors have spent the first portion of the season wandering through a congested schedule packed with back-to-backs and advance days So taking on the Timberwolves with four days of rest buffering the Friday night matchup at Chase Center with Golden State s Sunday win in Chicago That was unfamiliar territory In the teams first competition against one another since Minnesota eliminated the Warriors in five games in the second round of last season s playoffs Golden State fell - Steph Curry returned to the lineup after missing the previous five games with a left quad injury starting next to Pat Spencer for the first time Meanwhile Wolves superstar Anthony Edwards was out with foot soreness and the Warriors played without Al Horford and Draymond Green Keyed by chosen late-game stops the Wolves withstood Steph Curry s brilliant shot-making and pulled away in the final minutes Curry led all scorers with points while Quinten Post took advantage of drop defense to count Julius Randle led the Wolves with points Rudy Gobert scored and grabbed rebounds while repeatedly dunking on whichever Warrior happened to be in the paint Defense was in short supply early The Warriors led - at halftime as Curry put in and Spencer had nine points four rebounds and four assists Just like in the postseason the Wolves frontcourt of Randle Gobert Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniel pounded the Warriors Those four combined for points as the Wolves briefly took a third quarter lead However the Warriors aided by two timely Moses Moody buckets in the third battled back to retake the lead - by the end of the third But the Wolves size advantage Rob Dillingham was the only Minnesota participant under - helped the Timberwolves build a double-digit lead midway through the third Then Curry happened unleashing a flurry that helped the Warriors take a - lead with a little over two minutes remaining It was not enough to secure the preeminence though The Wolves did not blink and former Warrior Donte DiVincenzo drove the -point dagger into the Warriors with seconds left to give Minnesota a five-point lead The Warriors - will advance to Portland on Sunday Other guard combos The Warriors entered Friday night with eight healthy guards on the roster and coach Steve Kerr identified a way to play six of them the two exceptions being prior rookie starter Will Richard and veteran Seth Curry Aside from the aforementioned Curry-Spencer duo Kerr appeared to favor playing Brandin Podziemski with De Anthony Melton giving Podziemski a capable ballhandler to play off during the second and third quarters Podziemski also spent time playing next to Spencer and Curry in the second quarter Payton II more of a forward than a guard also discovered time next to the more offensively gifted Buddy Hield in the second quarter Hield was the backcourt competitor who tended to float between the different units as his strength and quick hands allowed him to be a credible option to defend the Wolves forwards Related Articles How Warriors changed their offense to fit Pat Spencer and why it could be here to stay Warriors Steph Curry nears return from quad injury I m feeling great Steve Kerr addresses achievable Kuminga departure from Warriors Kurtenbach Spencsanity is fun but the next five games will tell us who the Warriors really are Batman returns to practice Steph Curry rejoins Warriors after quad injury Kuminga does not play Jonathan Kuminga appears to be totally out of the Warriors rotation with the fifth-year forward receiving his second healthy scratch in a row The Warriors sent out different players in the first quarter and Kuminga s status was set in stone in the second quarter when Gui Santos checked in with about eight minutes left before halftime Both Kerr and Kuminga have assured anyone who will listen that the two have a good relationship but it is becoming increasingly clear that Kuminga is not in the club s future or present plans Kuminga can be traded on Jan at the earliest Green Horford update Neither of the Warriors the greater part experienced bigs were working against the Wolves Green was away from the squad for an excused personal reason Kerr recounted reporters before the encounter that Green will voyage with the company for Sunday s championship at Portland Meanwhile Horford was ruled out with sciatica and the coach noted he had no further update on Horford s status Horford has played one challenge since Nov which was last week s matchup in Philadelphia when he shot of What Warriors learned from playoffs While preparing for the - season Kerr pondered lineup combinations tactics and the group s quest for a fifth title Mulling over the company s five-game loss to the Wolves in the second round of the playoffs Not high on his list of priorities I don t spend too much time on it honestly Kerr disclosed However that doesn t mean the squad didn t learn a thing or two from the defeat The playoffs inevitably expose the details Kerr mentioned noting that Post s defense and Moody s pick-and-roll skills were exposed as weak spots