Donte DiVincenzo buried a pair of late 3-pointers, Julius Randle led the way in the absence of Anthony Edwards with 27 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves spoiled Stephen Curry’s 39-point return by defeating the Golden State Warriors 127-120 in San Francisco on Friday night.
Rudy Gobert had two dunks in a 17-0 fourth-quarter flurry and finished with a 24-point, 14-rebound double-double for the Timberwolves, who won for the sixth time in their last seven games despite playing without Edwards (foot) and backcourt mate Mike Conley (Achilles).
In action for the first time since suffering a strained left quad on Nov. 26, Curry was 14 of 28 from the field, including 6 of 15 from 3-point range, for the Warriors, who also were missing two key players in Draymond Green (personal) and Al Horford (back).
Seeking a third straight win, the Warriors led 96-91 after a layup by Moses Moody in the second minute of the fourth period. The Timberwolves then seized control by scoring 17 straight points while the hosts were missing eight straight shots and mixing in a pair of turnovers.
But Golden State rallied, sticking a nose in front at 115-114 on a Curry 3-pointer with 2:09 to go.
A Moody layup increased the Golden State lead to three, but DiVincenzo forged a 117-all tie with a 3-pointer at the 1:48 mark, then — after a go-ahead dunk by Gobert — delivered the dagger with a 23-footer for a 123-118 lead with 28.3 seconds to go.
DiVincenzo was a third Timberwolf scoring 20 or more points with 21, while Naz Reid added 18 and Jaden McDaniels 17.
Reid also found time for a game-high seven assists, while Randle complemented his team-high point total with nine rebounds and six assists.
Gobert hit 11 of his 13 shots, helping the visitors outshoot the Warriors 53.9% to 45.8% from the field. Randle and Reid each connected on half his 14 attempts.
The Warriors lost despite outscoring the Timberwolves 45-33 from deep, with Quinten Post padding the Golden State total with four 3-pointers on a 16-point night.
Jimmy Butler III had 15 points to complement a team-high eight rebounds and a team-high-tying five assists for the Warriors, while Pat Spencer chipped in with 12 points and Moody 11.
–Field Level Media
