The Golden State Warriors will visit the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night, and one of the teams will have to bounce back from their recent losses.
Golden State is coming off a tough 51-point loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, marking their third straight defeat. Minnesota is recovering from a 26-point loss to the New York Knicks in a nationally televised game on Thursday night.
Both teams seem to be feeling frustrated right now. Timberwolves’ top scorer Anthony Edwards expressed his frustration with the team’s offense before Saturday’s game. He spoke to reporters after his team was beaten by his former teammate Karl-Anthony Towns and the Knicks.
“We don’t have any (offensive) identity,” Edwards said. “We know I’m going to shoot a bunch of shots. We know (Julius) Randle is going to shoot a bunch of shots. That’s all we know. We don’t really know anything else.”
Edwards continued, saying the problem is not with the coaches but with the players. “It’s on us,” he said. “We’re out there playing, but we’ve got to make it easier for each other. Coaches put us in a great position, too, man. We just don’t do it.”
When asked what he would like to see from the offense, Edwards added, “They’re not going to like what I say, so I’m just going to keep my answers to myself.”
The Warriors are also looking for answers during their slump. Stephen Curry spoke about the team’s need to play with urgency but emphasized the importance of staying calm.
“I don’t like the ‘panic’ word,” Curry said. “I like, ‘Accept where you are and try to change the momentum of the season.’ Panic kind of means you don’t have an answer. I think we do have answers. Obviously (we need) a sense of urgency, for sure.”
Curry struggled in the loss to Memphis, shooting 0-for-7 from the field and 0-for-6 from 3-point range, finishing with just two points. His previous season low had been 12 points. Curry leads the Warriors with 22.0 points per game and 6.4 assists. Andrew Wiggins (17.8 points per game), Jonathan Kuminga (15.3), and Buddy Hield (14.1) are also top scorers for the team.
Edwards leads the Timberwolves with 25.9 points per game, and Julius Randle is averaging 20.2 points. After them, the next highest scorer is Naz Reid with 11.8 points per game. Rudy Gobert has been averaging a double-double with 10.3 points and 10.7 rebounds, though he had one of his worst games of the season against New York, finishing with just three points and four rebounds in 22 minutes.
This is the third of four games between these teams this season. The first two games were held in San Francisco. Minnesota won the first game 107-90 on December 6, with Edwards scoring 30 points. Golden State responded with a 114-106 win two days later, with Curry leading the Warriors with 30 points.
