Warriors haunted by personal bugbears again Timberwolves originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – Should the Warriors find their way into the NBA playoffs, the Western Conference team considered their personal bogeyman was the one they saw Friday night.

The Warriors failed to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves in four tries last season, and the teams’ first meeting this season, a 107-90 loss, extends that streak to five straight.

Golden State still has no antidote to the myriad problems posed by the Timberwolves, who have been in hibernation for the first month of the season but are among the hottest teams in the NBA.

The Warriors took an early 15-8 lead, watched it disappear after 90 seconds and spent the next 39 minutes with deficits as high as 23.

“We fell behind by 19 in the second quarter, but then had a good finish in the second quarter and a great run in the third, leaving us down to three,” coach Steve Kerr said. “We felt like we were exactly where we needed to be. But at the beginning of the fourth quarter it got away from us again.”

Even though the Warriors have a completely different roster and Minnesota also made a few significant changes, the result is the same.

The Timberwolves still have an answer to almost every problem the Warriors pose. Minnesota has a legitimate star in Anthony Edwards, but so much more. Rudy Gobert is frightening at the rim, Jaden McDaniels is an excellent wing defender and still holds his own on both sides.

With their size, agility, athleticism and patience, Wolves seem to live for the “privilege” of torturing their opponents through defense before strangling them.

With Jonathan Kuminga struggling (13 points, 6 of 15 shooting, minus-7 in 29 minutes) and Andrew Wiggins gritting his teeth until his right ankle gave out in the third quarter, the Warriors had to hope only that Stephen Curry could muster enough offense, to keep them afloat.

Although that’s usually a good choice, Curry tries to ignore the persistent pain in both knees. His 32 minutes illustrate the strength of his heart, his 6-of-17 shooting telling the story of his aching body – made worse by the waves of defenders coming at him.

At its best, Golden State’s offense is a symphony of constant movement, with players firing in different directions and the ball swirling around to find someone open. The Timberwolves won’t allow that. This is a team that had held its last three opponents to an average of 84 points.

The Warriors scored 15 points on 5 of 20 shooting in the second quarter and scored just 18 points on 8 of 20 in the fourth quarter. They were 3 of 18 from deep in those two crucial quarters.

Then there were the sales. The further the game progressed, the more there were. There were 13 in the second half.

A Chase Center crowd rarely lines up for the exits early, but that was the case when Anthony Edwards fired a jumper from mid-range to give the Timberwolves a 15-point lead with 5:32 left.

The Warriors certainly know that a 15-point lead can be erased in a matter of minutes, but most people in the building had seen enough to know this Such a comeback would not be possible against the Warriors this Timberwolves.

“They have a lot of long-distance athletes,” Kerr said. “You have a good puzzle. The puzzle suits them really well. They have wing defenders, ball defenders with Conley and McDaniels and Gobert on the sidelines. It’s a well-positioned, well-coached team.”

It’s not that Golden State will never beat the Timberwolves. It’s just that team composition is currently a huge challenge that would require a spectacular performance from the coaching staff and several players. The Warriors are too competitive to avoid another team. But if there was one team in the West built to get them ready, it would be the Timberwolves.

A seven-game playoff series would be threatening. This also applies to the next game. The teams meet again on Sunday. Same location, at 5:30 pm PT.

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