Minnesota Timberwolves @ Golden State Warriors
Tuesday, November 14, 2023 at 10:00 PM ET
Chase Center, San Francisco, CA | Game ID: 22300025
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
GSW 30 29 24 18 101MIN 22 32 22 28 104
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Towns scores 33, sends Timberwolves past Warriors after early ejections in tourney game
SAN FRANCISCO -- — When the NBA created the In-Season Tournament as a way to inject playoff-level intensity into regular-season games, the scuffle between the Golden State Warriors and the Minnesota Timberwolves that resulted in three early ejections on Tuesday night may not have been what the league had in mind.
With the game still scoreless and not yet two minutes old, Golden State’s Draymond Green was ejected after putting Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert in a headlock. Warriors guard Klay Thompson and Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels , who got into a shoving match that resulted in Thompson’s jersey being ripped, were also tossed.
Once the dust settled, Karl-Anthony Towns scored 33 points, sending Minnesota to a 104-101 tournament victory over Golden State. The Wolves have won seven straight games for their longest win streak since 2004.
“We just found a way to win ugly in a game that was pretty ugly,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. “All credit to (the Warriors), those guys, they were super physical and took us out of our rhythm. But we found a way to win it and showed some toughness mentally.”
The rematch of the Wolves’ 116-110 win at the Chase Center on Sunday was not lacking in intensity as the lead changed hands several times in the fourth quarter, until Towns gave Minnesota the lead for good with a 3-pointer with 1:07 remaining.
Towns also grabbed 11 boards, and Gobert had 13. Reigning Western Conference player of the week Anthony Edwards scored 20 points.
“I just saw some moments to make some shots. I'm glad I did,” Towns said. “My teammates put me in great positions. Mike (Conley) finished the game out. It was just a team win, a great win. (Edwards) made some big shots when we needed him, Rudy got some big rebounds and we could keep going down the list.”
Golden State was without leading scorer Stephen Curry , who was ruled out with right knee soreness. Coach Steve Kerr said an MRI revealed “nothing alarming,” and the star guard is considered day to day.
With Curry sidelined, Golden State got a different look on the floor, something Kerr said could help them find an offensive spark. Rookie Brandin Podziemski and Dario Saric led the charge, but Golden State's losing streak reached four.
Podziemski played 39 minutes, scoring a career-high 23 points with seven boards off the bench and hitting three 3-pointers, including a buzzer-beater to end the third quarter. Saric got his second start with Golden State and added 21 on 6 of 15 shooting.
Chris Paul , who drew the start after coming off the bench in nine straight games, had 15 points with five rebounds and four assists.
“We don't have some regular rookies, you know what I mean,” Paul said of Podziemski's performance. “We've got some rooks who pay attention, know what they're doing. To be on a team like this, this early in the season, valuable minutes in big games, it's only going to be good in the long haul.”
MIN KarmaHide StintsShow StintsHide PMShow PMHide KarmaShow KarmaHide ScoresShow Scores
Who
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
GSWAW A. Wiggins
BP B. Podziemski
CJ C. Joseph
CP C. Paul
DG D. Green
DŠ D. Šarić
GP G. Payton II
JK J. Kuminga
KL K. Looney
KT K. Thompson
MM M. Moody
SA Saric
TJ T. Jackson-Davis
MINAE A. Edwards
JM J. McDaniels
KA K. Anderson
KT K. Towns
MC M. Conley
NA N. Alexander-Walker
NR N. Reid
RG R. Gobert
SM S. Milton
TB T. Brown Jr.
GSW/MIN the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur