SAN FRANCISCO – Without the ailing Andrew Wiggins, the Warriors’ coaches once again went in search of a new starting lineup in a Sunday night rematch against a Timberwolves team that cornered them two days earlier.

On the morning of the game, Steve Kerr contacted Pabail Sidhu, the franchise’s director of analytics. His well-rounded team, including Hannah Heiring, provides Kerr lineup data reports and occasional suggestions. After thinking about it on Saturday, Sidhu pitched the idea of ​​a reconfigured small-ball five-man group: Steph Curry, Buddy Hield, Gary Payton II, Jonathan Kuminga and Draymond Green.

“It took a while,” Kerr said. “But that opened the game for us.”

Payton was needed in Wiggins’ place as the primary defender for Anthony Edwards. Hield was out there replacing Brandin Podziemski to give Curry more space to move freely and Kuminga to rush and tumble downhill. The Warriors were hesitant to start Green at center this season. They are concerned about the physical strain. But Rudy Gobert isn’t a traditional badass. So they gave the green light on fifth place and scheduled a track and field meet.

The Warriors defeated the Timberwolves 114-106, overcoming a poor start with 44-32 wins in the third quarter and 21-16 in the fourth quarter. This group of five started the second half well and closed the game. In total, they were up 11 in 17 minutes combined.

“I think he liked the numbers,” Hield said of Kerr’s lineup choice. “I don’t know what it is. I think we play faster. It definitely worked today. But when I’m on the floor with Steph, Dray, Gary and JK, it’s always open. Teams have to pick their poison.”

Hield started the season brilliantly, scoring more than 20 points in six of the first seven games, which equated to high 3-point volume and accuracy above 50 percent. But he has cooled off over the last month and his minutes and opportunities have declined recently. He hadn’t scored 20 points since November 4th. He played just 13 minutes against the Timberwolves on Friday night.

“We just felt like we had to get Buddy going,” Kerr said.

Kerr started Hield and kept him out for a season-best 35 minutes on Sunday. He scored 27 points and hit seven 3s, including the dagger from the corner, to bring the Warriors within six points with 57 seconds left.

“Steve did a good job of just letting me stay out there and let me figure it out,” Hield said. “Sometimes you have to get used to it. If you know what I’m talking about as a basketball player, sometimes you’re locked in and you’re running around all the time and you don’t feel good.”

Curry scored a team-high 30 points. He seemed to have a particularly spring in his step. Kuminga scored 20 points in a season-high 36 minutes. He had seven big rebounds and set a career high with three blocks. In the final period, he grabbed a powerful rebound in traffic and ousted Julius Randle on the Timberwolves’ second-to-last possession.

But it was Payton who was the star defensive player of the night. Payton is usually just a diversion and has only exceeded the 20-minute mark once this season. He was out for a season-best 27 minutes on Sunday night and was stuck with Edwards for most of that season. He had two blocks and two game-winning steals in the fourth quarter.

Here is the first one. There are still nine minutes left. He follows Edwards around a screen and jumps into his passing window when Edwards thinks he’s going to dump the ball after a simple double. Payton turns it into an and-1 layup at the other end.

Payton’s second steal comes with a minute left. It’s a similar scenario. He follows Edwards after the Timberwolves tried to shield him from their star wing. He reads the developing play and jumps into Edwards’ passing lane to intercept it, which in turn leads to points the other way. Seven seconds later, Hield hits the Dagger 3 into the left corner.

Even after the Hield corner 3, the Warriors were still looking for an exclamation point. This happened on the next possession when Green had the ball up, Curry went for a quick pick-and-pop and Gobert stayed near Curry too long. Green, stalking his quarry, assumed Gobert would run into Curry traffic and darted in for a dunk.

Draymond hit the “night night” with Rudy Gobert and the Wolves 😅

pic.twitter.com/qiMW47egGG

– Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) December 9, 2024

Green delivered Curry’s signature late-night taunt, sprinting across the floor fast enough for Gobert to catch a glimpse of him celebrating.

“We needed this moment,” Curry said.

(Photo of Buddy Hield celebrating a 3-pointer with Steph Curry: Lachlan Cunningham / Getty Images)