By Jerry Feitelberg

UPI photo: Golden State’s Draymond Green goes for a bucket as the Warriors just get by the Minnesota Wild on Monday night

The Warriors had their hands full with the young and tall Minnesota TimberWolves Monday night at the Target Center in Minneapolis. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson did not shoot well for the second game in  a row, but Draymond Green and the bench picked up the slack as the Warriors won a thriller 109-104. The Warriors were looking to rebound from the loss in San Antonio Saturday night. The Spurs had crept to trail the Dubs by just three games in the race for home-court advantage in the Western Conference. Minnesota entered the game with a record of 22-47. The Dubs have on the T-Wolves the last couple of seasons and most people would think that this game would be a breeze for Golden State. Those people would be wrong as the Wolves played the Dubs tough. The T-Wolves big four, Ricky Rubio, Karl-Anthony Towns. Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine accounted for eighty-eight points. The Warriors bench, on the other hand, outscored the Minnesota bench 36-8. Andrew Bogut missed his third straight game with an injured toe. Andre Iguodala did not play as he is recovering from an ankle sprain. Festus Ezeli is still not ready to return from knee surgery, but reports indicate that he will be returning to practice next week.

The Warriors had their hands full with the young and tall Minnesota TimberWolves Monday night at the Target Center in Minneapolis. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson did not shoot well for the second game in a row, but Draymond Green and the bench picked up the slack as the Warriors won a thriller 109-104. The Warriors were looking to rebound from the loss in San Antonio Saturday night. The Spurs had crept to trail the Dubs by just three games in the race for home-court advantage in the Western Conference. Minnesota entered the game with a record of 22-47. The Dubs have on the T-Wolves the last couple of seasons and most people would think that this game would be a breeze for Golden State. Those people would be wrong as the Wolves played the Dubs tough. The T-Wolves big four, Ricky Rubio, Karl-Anthony Towns. Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine accounted for eighty-eight points. The Warriors bench, on the other hand, outscored the Minnesota bench 36-8. Andrew Bogut missed his third straight game with an injured toe. Andre Iguodala did not play as he is recovering from an ankle sprain. Festus Ezeli is still not ready to return from knee surgery, but reports indicate that he will be returning to practice next week.

The Warriors and the Wolves played a very tight first period. Neither team could get a big lead and the Warriors trailed by two 29-27 after the first twelve minutes of play. It was the sam story in the second period. Neither team could get much going but the Dubs were able to lead by three 61-58 at the half. Golden State had seventeen assists and just three turnovers in the half. They were able to score fourteen points due to several Minnesota turnovers. Steph and Draymond led the Dubs in scoring with ten apiece. Mo Speights had eight of the bench and James Michael McAdoo, who started the game, contributed seven. LaVine, Towns, Rubio and Wiggins did most of the scoring for Minnesota.

In the third period, Minnesota was able to take an 89-83 lead but the Dubs came back and tied it at 89 at the finish of the third period. In the fourth period, the dubs defense put the clamps on the Minnesota offense and limited them to just fifteen points. The Warriors offense wasn’t much better as they scored twenty points but it was enough to secure the win. Draymond Green made two clutch layups in the final stanza. Klay and Steph also made four key free throws to help the Dubs win. Final score 109-104.

Game Notes- Steph finished the game with a double-double. He had nineteen points, eleven assists, and seven rebounds. Draymond had twenty-four points, nine rebounds and six assists. Klay Thompson scored seventeen. He made five three-point shots and two free throws. However, he was 0-for-9 from the floor.

Minnesota’s Big Four had Rubio with twenty, Towns with twenty-four, Wiggins twenty-five and LaVine nineteen. The Dubs bench received contributions from Mo Speights, Shaun Livingstone, Leandro Barbosa, Brandon Rush and Anderson Varejao. The bench contributions were the difference in the game.

The Warriors improve their season record to 63-7 with twelve games left to play. They play nine games at Oracle and just three on the road. The Dubs won for the thirty-first time on the road. They became the eleventh team in NBA history to achieve the feat. The Charlotte Hornets beat the San Antonio Spurs 91-88 to help the Dubs increase their lead to four games in the race for home-court advantage.

Next up for Golden State will be the Los Angeles Clippers Wednesday night at Oracle Arena.