SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors went up by two late in the fourth in a pivotal Western Conference clash Sunday evening at Chase Center.
Golden State’s fourth straight win felt well within reach.
But an ill-advised shot and two costly turnovers down the stretch squandered the Warriors’ fourth-quarter comeback as they fell 99-96 to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“We didn’t deserve to win,” coach Steve Kerr said. “They outplayed us. They made the plays down the stretch that they needed to make and we didn’t, so simple as that.”
Jordan Poole knocked down the go-ahead corner 3 with 1:28 left in the final quarter, but the Warriors came up empty handed on their next three possessions.
Poole missed 28-foot step-back 3. Moments later, Draymond Green turned the ball over and Kyle Anderson fed Karl Anthony Towns, who buried a 3 to give the Timberwolves the slight edge.
On the next possession, Poole threw the ball away for Golden State’s fifth turnover of the quarter with about four seconds left.
Game over.
“We just let one slip away,” Klay Thompson said. “That happens sometimes, but we’ve been so great here at home this year that we just had an off night, all of us, except for [Poole].”
Towns, playing in his second game back after a 51-game hiatus, knocked down two timely 3s late to usher his team to their third straight win and even the regular-season series at 2-2. That means, if necessary, the tiebreaker would be decided by who has the better conference record. As of Sunday, the Warriors are 25-21 against the West this season, and the Timberwolves are 26-20.
Golden State and Minnesota straddle the line between securing a playoff spot outright and falling into the play-in tournament.
Green called the latter scenario “dangerous” and made the Warriors’ intentions of finishing as a top-six team clear in recent days, but Sunday’s loss doesn’t help their cause.
Sure, the Warriors remain in sixth place in the jam-packed Western Conference race, but the gap between them and the seventh-place Timberwolves shrank to a half game. Golden State is only a game ahead of the eighth-seeded New Orleans Pelicans, who come to town on Tuesday.
After taking a two-point lead into the locker room at the half, Golden State had been battling to keep pace with the Timberwolves for most of the second half.
The Warriors opened the fourth with three turnovers but managed to rally.
The momentum seemed to swing in the Warriors favor, with Thompson giving his team their first lead of the fourth by drilling a 3-pointer with 2:47 left. Stephen Curry pickpocketed Anderson but his transition layup attempt was short.
Towns became the unlikely hero for the Timberwolves with his 3-point shooting. He drained a 3 at the top of the key. The lead would change twice more, though the Warriors couldn’t overcome their late-game mistakes.
Poole scored 10 of his team-high 27 points in the fourth, but he also made some key mistakes down the stretch.
Asked about his confidence level in Poole after the game, Thompson pointed to the Warriors’ championship logo behind him.
“That right there,” Thompson said. “He was a huge part of that and people tend to forget that.”
Golden State Warriors' Gary Payton II (8) fights for a rebound against Minnesota Timberwolves' Karl-Anthony Towns (32) in the second quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, March 26, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Minnesota Timberwolves' Rudy Gobert (27) fouls Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green (23) in the fourth quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, March 26, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green (23) scores a basket against Minnesota Timberwolves' Karl-Anthony Towns (32) in the first quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, March 26, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Golden State Warriors' Gary Payton II (8) blocks a shot against Minnesota Timberwolves' Karl-Anthony Towns (32) in the fourth quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, March 26, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Golden State Warriors' Gary Payton II (8) defends against Minnesota Timberwolves' Taurean Prince (12) in the fourth quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, March 26, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Minnesota Timberwolves' Taurean Prince (12) flagrant fouls Golden State Warriors' Jordan Poole (3) in the first quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, March 26, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Golden State Warriors' Gary Payton II (8) scores a basket against Minnesota Timberwolves' Kyle Anderson (5) in the second quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, March 26, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry (30) celebrates his 3-point basket against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the third quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, March 26, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Minnesota Timberwolves' Naz Reid (11) dunks the ball against the Golden State Warriors in the third quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, March 26, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Golden State Warriors' Jordan Poole (3) talks to a referee after a foul was not called during their game against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the fourth quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, March 26, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Minnesota Timberwolves' Anthony Edwards (1) takes a shot against Golden State Warriors' Kevon Looney (5) and Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry (30) in the fourth quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, March 26, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Golden State Warriors' Gary Payton II (8) scores a 3-point basket against Minnesota Timberwolves' Naz Reid (11) in the fourth quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, March 26, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Golden State Warriors' Jordan Poole (3) dribbles against Minnesota Timberwolves' Taurean Prince (12) in the first quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, March 26, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Golden State Warriors' Kevon Looney (5) high-fives a fan before their game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, March 26, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)