By Gabe Schapiro

The Golden State Warriors (26-18) lost a hectic back-and-forth contest to the Minnesota Timberwolves, 121-120, Friday night, at Oracle Arena. The game featured a ton of offense, and seemed to come down to which side would blink first. The Warriors grabbed a late lead, before a Kevin Martin 20-foot jumper with eight seconds left ultimately put the Timberwolves ahead for good. Three Minnesota players finished with 20+ points in the win.

The fast pace was set early on, as both squads combined for 72 points in the first quarter alone, deadlocked at a 36-36 tie. The foes continued to go blow-for-blow, with neither establishing a significant lead. The Timberwolves opened up the game with a 6-0 run, but that would be the biggest advantage either would enjoy until the third quarter.

Heading into the locker rooms at half time, they remained tied, 63 all.

Late in the third quarter, Golden State finally made a bit of a run. Minnesota failed to score for the final 2:53, sending the Warriors on a 10-0 tear, and a seven-point lead, heading into the fourth. It appeared as though the dubs could fight them off, but the rollercoaster ride wasn’t over.

In the fourth the momentum slowly swayed back in the Wolves favor. With 5:54 remaining in the contest, a Martin three-pointer had erased Golden State’s lead, and had taken back a one-point lead of their own. They continued to trade punches down the stretch. With 27 seconds left a pair of Andre Iguodala free-throws gave the Warriors their last lead of the game, 120-119. With eight ticks left, Martin played the game-changer again, sinking a jumper. Harrison Barnes had one last shot at the buzzer, after a double-teamed Stephen Curry passed the rock his way, but his attempt clanged off the rim.

In all five Warriors finished in double figures. Curry led all scorers with 33 points, including six three-pointers, to go along with 15 assists. David Lee pitched in 23 points and seven rebounds. Andrew Bogut set a Warriors season-high with seven blocked shots, to highlight his line of eight points and 11 boards. Klay Thompson had 18, Iguodala finished with 16.

Kevin Love led the way for Minnesota, filling up the stat sheet with 26 points, 14 rebounds, and eight assists. Martin did plenty of damage as well, chipping in another 26 points. Center Nikola Pekovic scored 22, and hauled in 14 rebounds. Ricky Rubio led the team with 12 assists.

Golden State will look to get back to their winning ways this Sunday, when they take on the tough Portland Trailblazers, back at Oracle. The game begins at 6:00pm.