Looking to get right amid skid, Warriors’ smothered by Timberwolves on the road

Start to the Golden State Warriors road trip soured by bad loss to Minnesota Timberwolves

MINNEAPOLIS —  Off to a disappointing start after the All-Star break, the Golden State Warriors came to Minneapolis hoping find a little momentum. But the Timberwolves smothered the Warriors’ feeble attempts at a road win, losing 129-114 on Tuesday night at Target Center.

The Timberwolves led by double-digits early, but the Warriors challenged that lead in the second half with Curry finding an opportunity to take scoring matters into his own hands.

Curry’s sluggish start, going 1-for-4 in the first quarter from three, gained momentum with a few productive minutes shared with Juan Toscano-Anderson on the floor in the second quarter. Curry finished the half with three from beyond the arc. Calling his own number more as the game progressed, Curry went 5-for-14 from beyond the arc by the end of the third quarter.

While Curry’s teammates held their own while he sat, they couldn’t generate enough scoring to dig themselves out of the deficit. Minnesota buried them in a high-scoring fourth quarter, forcing head coach Steve Kerr to pull Curry with just over five minutes remaining. Without a three in the fourth quarter, he finished the game with a team-high 34 points.

A game against his former team seemed to be the jolt Andrew Wiggins needed. He got off to a hot start, collecting eight points on 3-of-3 shooting, including two 3-pointers. But that start fizzled quick — Wiggins went without a made field goal for the rest of the half as the Warriors saw an early lead drown. He finished with 12 points.

Jordan Poole struggled, too, going a team-worst minus-21 with 12 points.

The Timberwolves dominated on both ends with their size and length, outscoring the Warriors in the paint 28-16 in the first half. Karl-Anthony Towns put up 20 points with seven rebounds in that half.

Moses Moody started the game, but left in the first quarter after Towns’ accidentally hit him in the left eye during contact at the rim.

The loss was a sour start to their four-game road trip against four Western Conference playoff teams. The Dallas Mavericks are up next with a trip to Los Angeles to play the Lakers, then Denver to play the Nuggets after.