The Golden State Warriors will be looking to get out of their slump in the NBA when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Chase Center on Monday morning.
The Warriors are 13-9 and currently sit fifth in the Western Conference, while the Timberwolves are heating up nicely, now 12-10 and ninth in the conference standings.
Match preview
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After a storming start to the season, the Golden State Warriors have begun to cool off recently and suffered their seventh defeat in their last 10 games on Saturday when they were beaten 107-90 by this opponent here in California.
Stephen Curry returned from injury and led the team with 23 points, four assists and two rebounds, Jonathan Kuminga contributed 13 points, and Andrew Wiggins chipped in with 11 points.
The Warriors were also able to welcome back Draymond Green, who got 10 points, nine rebounds and six assists off the bench, but they were unable to keep pace with the Timberwolves in the final quarter and were outscored 29-18.
Minnesota have been a bogey team for GSW over the last couple of years, as Steve Kerr's side lost to them four times last season and Saturday's loss pushes that streak to five consecutive defeats.
Golden State have now slipped to 12th in the scoring charts, putting up 114.1 points per game, and are allowing 109.3 PPG (seventh overall) on the defensive end, though they are still profitable at 13-9-0 ATS for the season.
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Meanwhile, after a very slow start to the season, the Minnesota Timberwolves are starting to remind onlookers why they were one of the most feared teams in the Western Conference last season.
Anthony Edwards delivered a standout performance on Saturday, draining a game-high 30 points and nine assists, Rudy Gobert got 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Julius Randle notched up 16 points and nine assists.
The Timberwolves got out the gate slowly and found themselves 15-8 down, but used a 23-2 second-quarter flurry to erase the early deficit and never looked back as they surged to their fourth win on the bounce - the second-longest active streak in the West.
With that result, the Timberwolves are now averaging 110.7 points per game, but their major strength has been at the other end, where they are allowing just 106.6 PPG (fourth-best in the NBA).
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Team News
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The Warriors lost two rotation players over the weekend, with Andrew Wiggins having to exit the game early after aggravating his ankle injury, while Moses Moody joined him for an early shower due to knee soreness.
De'Anthony Melton recently underwent ACL surgery and will be out for the foreseeable future, Gary Payton II is questionable due to left knee inflammation, while the team are also keeping an eye on Curry and Green following their first games back.
For the Timberwolves, the eighth overall draft pick Rob Dillingham has not had much time to get his career off to a proper start and remains sidelined for the time being owing to a right ankle sprain.
Joe Ingles's best days are starting to look well behind him and he is ruled out with a muscle injury, while Leonard Miller is on G League assignment and has yet to feature in an NBA game this season.
Golden State Warriors possible starting five:
Green, Kuminga, Looney, Curry, Podziemski
Minnesota Timberwolves possible starting five:
McDaniels, Randle, Gobert, Edwards, Conley Jr
We say: Golden State Warriors to win by 2+ points
While the Warriors have largely had no answer to the Timberwolves in recent times, Saturday's game would have shown Steve Kerr that going man for man against Minnesota is unlikely to yield favourable results.
Thus, it would not come as a huge surprise if GSW look to let it fly from long range in this match, and if Curry and co. can find their range, we feel the hosts could edge the result in this one.
Devesh Jaganath
