Steph Curry fuels victory over Timberwolf – NBC Sports Bay Area & California
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Steph Curry fuels victory over Timberwolf – NBC Sports Bay Area & California

Posted on by Amelia Pressman

BOX score

SAN FRANCISCO – The opponent was the same, but the play on the field and the result were significantly different two days apart.

The Warriors mustered just 90 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night and lost by 17 points. On Sunday, they had 93 points in three quarters and outlasted Anthony Edwards and Co. in a huge 114-106 win at Chase Center.

Draymond Green put the Timberwolves to sleep with an emphatic dunk and then dropped Steph Curry’s legendary “Night 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 12th. Curry was joined by a monster performance from Buddy Hield, who gave Golden State 27 points, including seven three-pointers.

Hield’s 27 points were his most since November 27th. It was also the first time since November 4th that he had 20 or more points.

The smaller Warriors won with will, beating the Timberwolves 45-39. They had 18 more points than Minnesota and 15 more points on second chances.

Here are three takeaways from the Warriors’ win.

Steph Show

After a one-game absence on the first night of a back-to-back game, Curry scored 23 points against the Timberwolves on Friday night, but did so while going 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 they are at their best. Jaden McDaniels is one of the better defenders in basketball with a height of 1.90 meters and a wingspan of almost 2.10 meters and makes everyone’s evening difficult – Curry included.

McDaniels made things difficult for Curry early in the game, as the Warriors superstar only scored four points in the first quarter. Then there was a Curry riot in the second quarter.

Curry took advantage of every chance he could get in the second quarter. As soon as there was an inch of space, Curry made Minnesota pay. He scored a blast of 15 points in the second quarter on 5 of 8 shooting, including 3 of 6 three-pointers. His 19 points were his most in the 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. After halftime, he dropped another nine goals in the third quarter – including an epic buzzer-beater – and two more in the fourth.

Hield is getting hot

Steve Kerr had to get creative with his starting lineup with Andrew Wiggins sidelined with a right ankle injury. Gary Payton II was assigned to guard Edwards, and Hield was part of the group when he was shot.

Lately, however, Hield’s shot has become icy until Sunday night. Hield missed both of his 3-point attempts last game and was one of six the game before. Since going 5 of 8 from 3-point range on Nov. 27, he went 5 of 18 (27.8 percent) from beyond the arc in his next four games and averaged just 6.5 points.

Hield went scoreless in the first quarter Sunday and missed both of his 3-point attempts, including an airball. Slowly but surely he was getting hot. Hield scored eight points in the second quarter and then 11 key points as the Warriors trailed the Timberwolves by 44 in the third quarter, giving them a 93-90 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The biggest shot of the game undoubtedly belonged to Hield, who hit a corner three with 57 seconds left to give the Warriors a 112-106 lead.

No TJD

The Timberwolves employ one of the NBA’s tallest players in the 7-1 Gobert, and yet the Warriors’ starting center has sat the entire game since their season opener. Trayce Jackson-Davis had no reason to take off his warm-up gear. Kerr played against 10 Warriors, and Jackson-Davis was one of them, along with Pat Spencer and Gui Santos.

Jackson-Davis started the Warriors’ first 17 games in his second season as a pro. He played just four minutes off the bench in their 18th game, a four-point loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and then returned to the starting lineup, playing 15 minutes against the Phoenix Suns.

But Jackson-Davis hasn’t started for four games in a row. He still averaged nearly 18 minutes per game through the first three games. However, Sunday was the first time that Jackson-Davis was not used.

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. He has shot 52.2 percent overall in his last 11 games, and that number has dropped to a low 45 percent compared to his last five games played.

Jackson-Davis was drafted 57th overall and was a crucial player as a rookie. Now in his second year, he’s trying to figure out where he fits best with the Warriors.

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