SAN FRANCISCO — Newton’s third law of basketball injuries hurt the Warriors on Friday night in the Chase Center: every return to injury has an equal and opposite unfortunate injury.
Although both Steph Curry and Draymond Green returned from brief absences, the Warriors lost Andrew Wiggins and Moses Moody during the game to ankle and knee injuries, respectively.
The ailments left Steve Kerr back to where he’s been for the past three weeks — searching for answers. The test came back and revealed the Warriors didn’t have enough shooters, nor enough playmakers to handle Minnesota’s dogged ball pressure.
The Warriors (13-9) trailed for the entirety of the final three quarters and got closed out by a defiant Anthony Edwards (30 points, nine assists) . The Warriors’ 107-90 defeat makes it six losses in their past seven games, with a rematch against the Timberwolves upcoming on Sunday.
Minnesota forced 21 Golden State turnovers and held the Warriors to below 30% shooting from deep.
The Warriors started Jonathan Kuminga at the four and brought Green — in his return from a two-game absence — off the bench.
Kuminga, though he played aggressively, failed to repeat his 33-point gem that matched his career-high from Thursday. He finished with 13 points on 15 shots.
And Green, who has come off the bench before in his career, played with a spring in his step. He went coast-to-coast for a finger roll after a smooth crossover before hitting a catch-and-shoot 3. Green registered eight points and three boards in his first seven minutes.
For all the talk of tweaking the rotation, Kerr only really adjusted the order of operations, not the operation itself. He ended up playing 13 guys, including Pat Spencer, both out of urgency and injuries.
The big change, which began before Friday night, was Curry’s minutes pattern. Instead of his traditional rotation, he again started and finished each quarter, sitting in between while staggering with Brandin Podziemski.
With or without Curry, the Warriors stumbled to start the second quarter. Golden State scored just two points and committed a slew of turnovers in the first six minutes of the period. When Kerr called a timeout at 4:42, the Wolves led, 48-35. The Warriors got outscored 17-4 over 7:18 while logging half as many made field goals (2) as turnovers (4).
The offense was so stuck, Kerr dusted off Lindy Waters III — bringing his rotation back to 12 out of desperation. Moses Moody, who may have normally gotten those minutes, exited with left knee soreness.
Rudy Gobert blew up several plays in the lane, and Naz Reid also supplied rim protection behind him. Green picked up a technical foul after Julius Randle inadvertently clocked him in the mouth with his elbow, which went uncalled.
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Curry had to restrain Green to prevent further conflict. After Green’s technical, he and Gobert — the two foes — had a couple moments of tension, but none of which escalated. The Warriors went on an 11-2 run, with Green making several excellent defensive plays, to close the quarter. Even with that strong stretch, Golden State lost the frame 25-15.
Andrew Wiggins, who scored 11 first-half points, limped to the locker room two minutes into the second half. He has been dealing with a right ankle impingement that flared up on a jump stop in the paint, knocking him out after 19 minutes.
Waters, in reserve, sank a wing 3 to cap a quick 11-4 run. But Minnesota regained control as Kerr went with a lineup of Brandin Podziemski, Spencer, Waters, Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis — a combination bereft of outside shooting.
The slumping Buddy Hield watched from the bench as the lineup struggled to create, or hit, shots of any kind. The slump quelled Golden State’s momentum, though Curry drilled a step-back, buzzer-beating 3 to end the quarter on a high note.
Kyle Anderson bailed out a disgusting Warriors possession with a lefty layup, then Curry canned his third 3 to inch within three.
But Edwards ignited a 9-2 Wolves response, and the Warriors turned it over on three straight ugly possessions. Like in previous losses to the Spurs, Nets and Thunder, Golden State’s late-game offense went in the tank.
The Warriors went scoreless for four minutes as a tight game became an 18-point onslaught. Fans filed out with more than three minutes remaining, what was left of Golden State’s bench at the scorer’s table ready for mop-up duty.
