Warriors vs Timberwolves Final Score: Offensive games again in loss

Well, it can’t get any worse. Two days after getting destroyed by Karl-Anthony Towns and New York KnicksThe Minnesota Timberwolves were back in action against Golden State Warriors.

Both teams are coming off terrible performances, as the Wolves’ 26-point loss on Thursday was surpassed by the Warriors, who lost by 51 points to the Memphis Grizzlies.

Just before the game was ready to begin, the referees noticed a problem with the rim, which caused the game to be delayed. After more than 20 minutes and several different members of the equipment staff looking, the rim was finally repaired so the game could start.

After a rotten offensive performance on Thursday, Minnesota continued to have trouble scoring the ball as they would miss seven of their first eight shots to start the game, allowing the Warriors to jump out to an early seven-point lead.

Minnesota would finish the first quarter with just 15 points, three fewer than they had in the second quarter disaster against the Knicks on Thursday. Minnesota would shoot 6-22 from the field and 1-8 from beyond the arc while adding four turnovers along the way. The Wolves would trail by 11 points heading into the second quarter.

The offense would only get worse in the second quarter as the Timberwolves would not score a single point until the 5:38 mark of the quarter, totaling a stretch of more than seven and a half minutes without any scoring going back to the end of the first quarter.

The Golden State lead would grow as high as 21 points before the Wolves made a pair of 3-pointers down the stretch to cut the lead to 50-37 heading into halftime.

Anthony Edwards struggled mightily in the first half, scoring just three points on 1-9 shooting. He was lacking everywhere on the pitch, including shots from deep, midfield and on the wing. Stephen Curry led the way for the Warriors with 11 points including three makes from beyond the arc.

Minnesota’s offense would wake up to start the second half, making 11 of their first 13 shots from the field to improbably take a one-point lead. The sequence was capped off by a Naz Reid block and 3-pointer in transition.

The Warriors would rally over the final four minutes of the quarter to take a 79-75 lead heading into the final frame.

The entire fourth quarter would remain close as neither team would take a lead larger than four points. Ant would start to make his mark on the game after a tough first half, making back-to-back shots from deep to tie the game.

In what has become a familiar story for this year’s Wolves, they would not be able to play well late in the game, allowing a 12-2 Golden State run. That run included a stretch where the Warriors scored on ten straight possessions late in the game, including a barrage of 3-pointers from Curry, gave the Warriors a 104-94 deficit that would prove to be enough.

The Wolves would go on to lose 113-103 for their second straight loss. Edwards recovered with a better second half, finishing with 19 points on 6-20 shooting. Donte DiVincenzo also had 19 points including three makes from beyond the arc. Curry led all scorers with 31 points including seven 3-pointers.

---

Key takeaways

Jesse Johnson-Imagn pictures

Offensive battles continue

The Timberwolves scored just 38 points in the first half and shot 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 away from the basket and everything in between.

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

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

Chris Finch spoke on the post-match podium about how Wolves can break from the script of going down early and rallying back only to fall short late on.

“We’ve got to put the ball in the basket. That’s why we were down tonight, we weren’t down because of our defense, we weren’t down because we had a lot of breakdowns, we just go and make a shot . It happens. We’re not going to overreact to that part.”

There is certainly a case to be made that poor shooting plays a large role in these offensive woes. Tonight in particular, the Wolves missed a large number of shots around the rim that will likely fall in the future.

The problem with this line of thinking is that the Wolves defense has struggled long enough to rule this out as the main factor. Over the previous 10 games before tonight, the Wolves ranked 28th in offensive rating, trailing 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 is how well they can get their offense to perform. There have been stretches this season, and at times tonight, where the Wolves offense has looked as good as it has in years. Right now, however, the wolves are nowhere near where they need to be.

Jesse Johnson-Imagn pictures

Ants’ offensive battles

One of the biggest reasons for the Wolves’ struggles on offense has been the reduced scoring punch from Edwards. In the month of December, Ant averaged less than 21 points per game. game, 43.3 percent shooting from the field, both pretty significant drops from his season and career totals.

So often in the last few years, Edwards would have a way of taking over games late with a combination of ridiculous shooting and intense defense. In the last month or two, that part of Edwards’ game hasn’t been there, as he’s scored 30 or more points just once in the last five weeks.

A big reason for Ant’s struggles is the lack of space around him on the field. Other teams load up on him when he drives to the paint, especially when Julius Randle and Jaden McDaniels are on the court, two shooters opposing defenses don’t respect when spotted beyond the arc.

Despite the lack of cap space, Edwards needs to do a better job of staying aggressive on the offensive end. He did that in the second half tonight, scoring 16 points on just 11 shots, but in the first half he was a big part of the team’s offensive struggles, scoring just three points on nine shots.

While there may be plenty of reasons beyond Edwards’ control for the lowered output on offense, the Wolves desperately need him to overcome those obstacles. Fair or not, this version of the Timberwolves desperately needs more from him on the offensive end. Against a good team, they can’t survive the night when Edwards has three points in the first half and finished the game shooting 30 percent.

Every time in his career Ant has been through a similar stretch, he has come out of it to give the Wolves exactly what they need. The expectation should be that he does it again. The question now is, how quickly can he do it?

Ant and the Officials

When the media came to talk to Edwards after the game, the only subject Edwards wanted to discuss was the officials. Right from the first question, Ant didn’t hold back.

“Fi’ awful, everybody, except the woman. But the other two guys, awful… They won’t talk back to my trainer, they won’t talk back to me. I said one thing to the referee and he gave me a technician.”

The next question for Edwards was whether the frustration with that carries over into the rest of the game.

“Nah, it’s just hard. Everyone keeps saying play through it. It’s easy to say when you’re not dealing with it.”

Ant then answered whether what he felt tonight has been a consistent problem all season.

“Well, it’s been consistent all year, but tonight was bad. They got ticky-tac errors and didn’t get anything.”

The fourth question Edwards was asked is whether the lack of calls affects his ability to be aggressive on the offensive end.

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

Edwards was asked another question regarding his feelings about the officials, but a Timberwolves official abruptly ended his media availability during his response to that question.

Ant may have a point regarding the officiating he receives. There may be times when he doesn’t get calls that other players would, but the league doesn’t take too kindly to players airing their grievances with the umpires while their public media is available.

Edwards will almost certainly receive a hefty fine for talking about the umpire like this, and there could be the possibility of a suspension if the league believes his comments were more than just a normal case of criticizing the officials.

---

Next

The Timberwolves embark on a holiday road trip starting with Atlanta Hawks Monday evening. That game will tip off at 6:30pm CT, with fans watching the game on FanDuel Sports Network North.

Then the wolves play Dallas Mavericks at Christmas, their first match at the festive season in seven years. The game starts at 1:30pm CT and airs on ABC, ESPN and ESPN+.

---

Game highlights