Preview: Warriors take on Timberwolves at home without Curry, Wiggins
How will GSW defend All-Star Anthony Edwards?
The Golden State Warriors are taking on the Minnesota Timberwolves today in a clash of teams with championship aspirations and mediocre records. The Dubs are 30-30 while the Wolves are 31-31, good enough to place them into the 7th and 8th seeds respectively.
But they’re both missing their franchise players, with both Stephen Curry and Karl-Anthony Towns sidelined with injuries. And as both teams jostle for playoff positioning, it’s clear that this is a game that could have implications down the line when seedings are finalized.
Golden State Warriors vs Minnesota Timberwolves
February 26th, 2023 | 4:30 PM PT
Watch: NBC Sports Bay Area | Listen: 95.7 The Game
The Warriors are a funny bunch this year. After storming through the NBA playoffs last season to become NBA champions (again), they’ve been befuddled by injuries, turnovers, and an inconsistent defense. They’re currently ranked 20th in the league in defensive rating, and if you filter for only road games they drop to 28th.
If the Warriors were developing the young guys and playing poorly, fine. If they were sitting the young guys, and playing well, fine.
— Warriors Huddle (@WarriorsHuddle) February 24, 2023
This move of not developing anyone, while playing poorly, is slowly killing me.
That’s a scary thought considering during the Splash Bro era Golden State’s dogged defense and swagger away from home have been the foundation by which championships were forged. Thankfully they’ll be playing in the friendly confines of Chase Center today when they take on Minnesota. Unfortunately they’re missing their best wing defender Andrew Wiggins, as the former Timberwolf is out for this contest with personal reasons.
I don't think the Warriors are dogging it and even playing bad per say. They are down their two best players and typically NBA teams lose when their two best players don't play...no need to overanalyze
— Jason Dumas (@JDumasReports) February 24, 2023
Meanwhile the Timberwolves have lost two out of their last three contests, beating the Dallas Mavericks but dropping games to the Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards.
Minnesota provides some danger in this matchup, as young star Anthony Edwards is dropping ridiculous stat lines on a nightly basis and was recently LeBron James’ first pick in the All-Star game.
First pick for Team LeBron… Anthony Edwards ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/URl9Xvvv2u
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 20, 2023
Becoming an All-Star is about more than putting stats on a page. Anthony Edwards did it by playing through pain, by showing empathy for his teammates in tough moments and by holding them accountable when they needed it.
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) February 21, 2023
The making of an All-Star: https://t.co/qtyJSdon0d
The last time Edwards met Golden State, his 27 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists helped erase a double-digit fourth quarter deficit in a comeback that ultimately led to Minnesota handing the champs a mind-numbing loss.
Will Golden State be able to contain the Ant Man today? If so, that’ll go a long way to ensuring they get above .500 and keep the Timberwolves at bay in the race to get out of the play-in seedings.