Warriors vs. Timberwolves Final Score: Offense struggles again with defeat

Well, it can’t get any worse. Two days after losing to Karl-Anthony Towns and the New York Knicks, the Minnesota Timberwolves faced the Golden State Warriors again.

Both teams have had terrible performances as the Wolves were outscored by 26 points on Thursday by the Warriors, who lost by 51 points to the Memphis Grizzlies.

Just before play could begin, the referees noticed a problem with the rim, causing the game to be delayed. After more than 20 minutes and a look from several different equipment employees, the rim was finally repaired and the game was ready to begin.

After a miserable offensive performance on Thursday, Minnesota continued to have trouble scoring the ball as they missed seven of their first eight shots early in the game, allowing the Warriors an early seven-point lead.

Minnesota would finish the first quarter with just 15 points, three points fewer than in Thursday’s disaster of a second quarter against the Knicks. Minnesota shot 6-22 from the field and 1-8 from distance while adding four turnovers. The Wolves would trail by 11 points early in the second quarter.

The offense would only get worse in the second quarter as the Timberwolves didn’t score a single point until the 5:38 mark of the quarter, making it a total of over seven and a half minutes without a single point scored until the end of the first quarter.

Golden State’s lead would grow to as many as 21 points before the Wolves hit a pair of 3-pointers during the quarter, cutting the lead to 50-37 at halftime.

Anthony Edwards struggled mightily in the first half, scoring just three points on 1-9 shooting. He was missing everywhere on the field, including shots from distance, mid-range and at the rim. Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 11 points, including three points from long range.

Minnesota’s offense would wake up early in the second half, making 11 of its first 13 field throws to take an improbable one-point lead. The sequence was capped off by a Naz Reid block and a 3-pointer in transition.

The Warriors rallied in the final four minutes of the quarter to take a 79-75 lead heading into the final period.

The entire fourth quarter would remain close as neither team would gain a lead of more than four points. Ant dominated the game after a difficult first half and took successive shots from distance to decide the game.

It’s now a familiar story for this year’s Wolves that they couldn’t play well late in the game, which would allow Golden State to go on a 12-2 run. That run included a stretch in which the Warriors scored on ten straight possessions late in the game, including a flurry of three-pointers from Curry, giving the Warriors a 104-94, a deficit that would prove that it is enough.

The Wolves lost their second straight, 113-103. Edwards bounced back with a better second half, finishing the game with 19 points on 6-for-20 shooting. Donte DiVincenzo also had 19 points, including three points from long range. Curry led all scorers with 31 points, including seven 3-pointers.

Key insights

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Offensive fighting continues

The Timberwolves scored just 38 points in the first half, shooting 12-44 (27.3 percent) from the field, including 4-17 (23.5 percent) on 3-pointers. They missed shots close to the basket, far from the basket and everything in between.

As has often been the case this season, it was difficult to see what the Wolves were trying to achieve offensively. They even had a stretch of half a quarter of the game where they went without a single point.

The offense did rally in the second half, scoring 65 points and finishing with 105, but it was too little and too weak as they ran out of gas late in the fourth quarter.

Chris Finch spoke from the podium after the game about how Wolves can break out of the pattern of getting out early and recovering only to fail late.

“We have to put the ball in the basket. That’s why we were down tonight, not because of our defense, we weren’t down because we had a lot of mishaps, we’re just going for a try. It happens. We’re not going to overreact to that part.”

There is certainly an argument to be made that poor shooting plays a major role in these offensive problems. Tonight in particular, the Wolves threw up a large number of behind-the-scenes shots that will likely go down in the future.

The problem with this line of thinking is that the Wolves defense has struggled long enough to rule this out as a major factor. In the last 10 games prior to tonight, the Wolves ranked 28th in offensive rating, surpassing only the Washington Wizards and Los Angeles Lakers.

As has been the case since Rudy Gobert arrived in Minnesota, the key to how far the Timberwolves can go this season will be how well they can get their offense going. There have been stretches this season, and at times tonight, when the Wolves offense has looked better than it has in years. At the moment, however, the Wolves are nowhere near where they should be.

Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

Ant’s offensive struggles

One of the main reasons for the Wolves’ problems offensively was Edwards’ lack of impact. For the month of December, Ant is averaging less than 21 points per game on 43.3 percent shooting from the field, both of which represent significant declines from his season and career point totals.

In recent years, Edwards has often managed to take over games late using a combination of ridiculous shooting and intense defense. Over the last month or two, that part of Edwards’ game has been non-existent, as he has scored 30 or more points just once in the last five weeks.

A main reason for Ant’s problems is the lack of spacing around him on the pitch. Other teams stress him out when he drives to the field, especially when Julius Randle and Jaden McDaniels are on the field, two shooters on the opposing defense don’t respect being spotted behind the field.

Despite the lack of space, Edwards needs to be more aggressive on offense. He did that tonight in the second half, scoring 16 points on just 11 shots, but he was a big part of the team’s offensive woes in the first half, scoring just three points on nine shots.

When the media came to speak with Edwards after the game, all Edwards wanted to talk about was the referees

“Fucking terrible, everyone except the woman. But the other two guys, terrible.”

Edwards was asked if the lack of calls affected his ability to be aggressive on offense.

“I’m being punished for being stronger than my opponent, so they give him the benefit of the doubt. They attack me the same way they attack everyone else, and I never get the calls.”

Ant may be right about the administration he is receiving. From a Wolves perspective, it’s definitely frustrating to see other players commit fouls and be told this:

While there may be many reasons for Edwards’ lower performance on defense, the Wolves desperately need him to overcome these obstacles. Whether it’s fair or not, this version of the Timberwolves desperately needs more of him on offense. They can’t survive the night against a good team when Edwards has three points in the first half and finishes the game with a 30 percent shooting rate.

Every time in his career Ant has gone through a similar phase and he has emerged from it to give Wolves exactly what they need. The expectation should be that he will do that again. The question now is, how quickly can he do it?

Next

The Timberwolves begin a holiday road trip with the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night. The game begins at 6:30 p.m. CT. Fans can watch the game on FanDuel Sports Network North.

The Wolves then play the Dallas Mavericks on Christmas, their first game on the holiday in seven years. The game begins at 1:30 p.m. CT and will air on ABC, ESPN and ESPN+.

Game highlights