T'wolves get big win over Warriors to bolster playoff push
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Andrew Wiggins scored 20 of his 24 points in the second half and hit the go-ahead free throws with 12.8 seconds left to lift the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 103-102 victory over the scuffling Golden State Warriors on Friday night.
Ricky Rubio had 17 points and 13 assists, and Karl-Anthony Towns scored 23 points to give the Timberwolves their sixth win in eight games as they try to chase down the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoff race. They entered the night 2½ games behind Denver, with Portland and Dallas also ahead of them in the standings.
Klay Thompson scored 30 points for Golden State, but Stephen Curry's remarkable shooting slump continued in the Warriors' second straight loss and fourth in six games without injured star Kevin Durant. Curry scored 26 points, but was just 10-for-27 from the field and 1-for-8 from 3-point range. And he missed an 18-footer in the closing seconds that would have won the game.
Wiggins missed a pair of free throws with 29 seconds left that would have given the Wolves a three-point lead. After Curry hit a floater for a 102-101 Golden State lead, Wiggins redeemed himself by calmly knocking down two in a row.
Before a two-game skid against Washington and Chicago last week, the Warriors had gone a league-record 146 straight regular-season games without consecutive losses. Their next streak lasted just two.
The Wolves are playing meaningful games in March for the first time in years, fighting with Denver, Portland and Dallas for the eighth seed in the West.
The Warriors are in a fight of their own with the Spurs now 1½ games behind them for the top seed in the conference, and Curry can't buy a bucket.
In his last 13 games, Curry was shooting 29.7% from 3-point range and he missed his first four from long range on Friday night. Three of them were wide open, catch-and-shoot looks that didn't go down and the other was one of his patented crossover-stepbacks that glanced off the rim.
His first 3 of the night splashed through with 7:59 to go in the third quarter, but missed his next two to keep the floodgates closed. His final look was a clean one, but clanked off the rim.
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TIP-INS: Warriors — Curry needed 14 points to surpass his father, Dell, in career scoring. Dell Curry scored 12,670 points in his career. ... G Shaun Livingston was given the night off to rest. ... The Warriors gave up 34 points in the first quarter, the fourth time in the last seven games they've allowed at least 30 in the opening frame.
Timberwolves — G Brandon Rush returned to the starting lineup after sitting out on Wednesday because of an illness. ... The attendance of 20,412 set a Target Center record. ... Towns had just four points on 2-for-8 shooting in the second half.
FALSE START: The teams had to be called back onto the court after the players had reached the locker room for the halftime break after a timing problem. The players thought the half had ended on a goaltending violation by Shabazz Muhammad, but replays showed there was still 0.6 seconds left on the clock. Referee Kenny Mauer called everyone back to finish the half, so the players trudged back on to the court to inbound the ball.
Rubio fired up a three-quarter court heave and then everyone went back to the locker room again.
UP NEXT: Warriors — Golden State travels to San Antonio on Saturday for a showdown with the No. 2 seed in the West.
Timberwolves — Minnesota takes a short trip to Milwaukee to take on the Bucks on Saturday.
