SAN FRANCISCO – The gold-clad, sold-out Chase Center crowd let out one groan after another as they watched what could be the final Warriors home game of the season slip away against the Timberwolves on Monday night.
What began as a second consecutive competitive game with Steph Curry and his injured left hamstring on the sidelines turned into a 117-110 Timberwolves victory and a 3-1 series deficit for the Warriors.
The 18,064 paying spectators saw Jonathan Kuminga score 23 as a rare bright spot for the team, but also watched Jimmy Butler put up just 14 on a quiet 5-for-9 shooting night. Golden State as a whole shot just 43.5% from the field as Anthony Edwards (30 points), Julius Randle (31 points) and the Wolves’ defense pulled away.
After going into halftime up two points, the Warriors saw their lead evaporate as the Wolves embarked on a 21-2 run starting with two Rudy Gobert free throws.
The Warriors left the third quarter trailing by 20 after a 12-minute stretch filled with fruitless Golden State drives, turnovers and a parade of made Timberwolves jumpers.
The 7-foot-3 Gobert was an unsolvable obstacle in the paint, blocking just one shot but stifling the Warriors’ drives while Edwards made three 3-pointers to give the Wolves an 80-68 lead with 5:30 left in the quarter.
As Curry looked helplessly on from the bench, the Warriors went almost five minutes without scoring a point and were outscored 39-17 during the period.
The fourth quarter was a mere formality, with coach Steve Kerr waiving the white flag and putting in reserves with 4:30 left. The benchwarmers cut into the deficit in garbage time, albeit against the Wolves’ starters.
It was a stark departure from the intensity of the game’s beginning.
During the pregame shootaround, the Warriors spoke about the importance of playing with pace.
Draymond Green and Kuminga showed they took the message to heart, pushing the tempo at every opportunity against the athletic Wolves and helping give the Warriors a 28-27 first-quarter lead.
That continued in the second quarter, when Buddy Hield took advantage of open space to score 10 points, while Kuminga used his pace to blow past Naz Ried for eight points and a 60-58 lead after 24 minutes.
It all fell apart after halftime, though, as the Warriors made only two 3-pointers in the second half — both during garbage time.
The Warriors will try to keep their season alive when they play Game 5 in Minneapolis on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. PT.
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