What we learned as Steph fuels Warriors’ win over Wolves originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – The opponent was the same, but the product on the field and the outcome were very different two days apart.
On Friday night, the Warriors mustered just 90 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves in a 17-point loss. On Sunday, they put up 93 points in three quarters and outlasted Anthony Edwards and Co. for a huge 114-106 victory at Chase Center.
Draymond Green put the Timberwolves to sleep with an emphatic dunk, then he dropped Steph Curry’s legendary “all night” celebration.
Curry scored a game-high 30 points and made five 3-pointers. It was his third 30-point performance of the season and first since November 12. Curry was joined by a monster performance from Buddy Hield, who gave Golden State 27 points, including seven threes.
Hield’s 27 points were his most since scoring 27 on November 2. It was also the first time he had 20 or more points since November 4.
The smaller Warriors won with will, outscoring the Timberwolves 45-39. They had 18 more points in the paint than Minnesota and 15 more second chance points.
Here are three takeaways from the Warriors’ victory.
Steph Show
After missing one game on the first night of a back-to-back, Curry scored 23 points against the Timberwolves on Friday night, but he did so by hitting 6 of 17 from the field and 3 of 9 from behind the 3-point line.
The Timberwolves are long, aggressive and have a stifling defense when at their best. Jaden McDaniels, standing at 6-foot-9 with a wingspan of nearly 7 feet, is one of the best defenders in basketball and makes nights tough for everyone, including Curry.
McDaniels made things difficult for Curry to start the game, as the Warriors superstar only scored four points in the first quarter. Then came a burst from Curry in the second quarter.
Curry in the second quarter took advantage of any trick he could get. Once there was an inch of space, Curry made Minnesota pay. He exploded for 15 points in the second quarter on 5 of 8 shooting, including 3 of 6 from three. His 19 points were his most for a first half all season.
The only problem was that no other Warrior had more than eight points in the first half. The scoring didn’t stop for Curry. Coming out of halftime, he dropped nine more in the third quarter – including an epic buzzer-beater – and two more in the fourth.
The field gets hot
Steve Kerr has had to get creative with his starting lineup with Andrew Wiggins out due to a right ankle impingement. Gary Payton II was inserted to guard Edwards and Hield was in the mix for his shooting.
But lately, Hield’s shooting has gone ice cold, until Sunday night. Hield missed both of his 3-point attempts last game and was 1 of 6 in the game before that. Since finishing 5 of 8 from 3-point range on November 27, he has gone 5 of 18 (27.8%) from beyond the arc in his next four games, averaging just 6, 5 points.
Hield was held scoreless in the first quarter Sunday, missing both of his 3-point attempts, including an airball. Slowly but surely he began to warm up. Hield scored eight points in the second quarter, then 11 important points as the Warriors lost 44 to the Timberwolves in the third quarter, giving them a 93-90 lead heading into the fourth.
The biggest shot of the game undoubtedly belonged to Hield, hitting a corner three with 57 seconds left, giving the Warriors a 112-106 lead.
No TJD
The Timberwolves employ one of the NBA’s tallest players in 7-1 Gobert, and yet the Warriors’ starting center from their season opener sat the entire game. Trayce Jackson-Davis had no reason to take off his warm-up gear. Kerr played 10 Warriors, and Jackson-Davis was one of them, joining only Pat Spencer and Gui Santos.
Jackson-Davis, in his second season as a professional, started the Warriors’ first 17 games. He played just four minutes off the bench in their 18th game, a four-point loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, then was back in the starting lineup where he played 15 minutes against the Phoenix Suns .
But Jackson-Davis has now been out of the starting lineup for four straight games. During the first three, he still played on average almost 18 minutes per game. Sunday, however, was the first time Jackson-Davis was not called upon.
The 6-9 center was a perfect 11 of 11 from the field in the Warriors’ first two games. In his first 11 games, Jackson-Davis shot 68.4 percent from the field, but his finishing has declined significantly since then. Over his last 11 games, he’s shot 52.2 percent overall, and that figure drops to 45 percent over his previous five games.
Drafted 57th overall, Jackson-Davis made a difference as a rookie. Now a sophomore, he’s trying to figure out where he fits best on the Warriors.
