The Golden State Warriors lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves last night. This is becoming a theme.
Of their 9 losses this year, the Warriors have only lost to two playoff contenders (the San Antonio Spurs, of course, and the Boston Celtics). The Timberwolves were the latest below .500 team to take down the NBA’s best team (?), and they did it in comeback fashion in OT, walking away with a 7-point victory behind 32 points from Andrew Wiggins, and 35 from Shabazz Muhammed.
Turnovers have been a problem for the run-and-gun Warriors this season, and their 24 giveaways last night ultimately did them in, and helped the Timberwolves overcome a 17-point deficit. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr related the Warriors troubles of late to the 1995-1996 Bulls’ late-season sputters; he was of course a prominent member of that team, and helped those dominant Bulls achieve an NBA record 72 victories. “You have so much media attention and everybody talking about breaking the record and you lose focus a little bit,” said Kerr, who missed a significant chunk of the beginning of the season due to health issues.
The Warriors are going to have to win their final four games to achieve that record-breaking 73rd victory, and it won’t be easy at all. They play their final four games against two teams, the Memphis Grizzlies and the San Antonio Spurs, whom they play twice each. Though the Grizzlies are a playoff team, they’ve played terribly of late, and have lost 7 of their last 10. The Warriors might be catching them at just the right time, but they won’t have an easy time beating the Spurs, who have won 8 of their last 10, twice. The Spurs are also undefeated at home this season, and the Warriors will have to break that streak if they want to make history.
