Wolves 107, Warriors 90: Edwards’ 30 Points Extends Win Streak to Four

After sweeping the season series against Golden State last year, Edwards and Gobert team up to decimate them on their home floor once again.

The Start — Hot out the blocks

Both teams came out of the gates firing. In fact, a combined 14 different players from both teams scored at least one field goal in the quarter. The most surprising part? Both Anthony Edwards and Steph Curry went scoreless in first three to four minutes of the game. We did have early inklings of revenge games though. Our old friend, Andrew Wiggins, rattled in seven points before either of the aforementioned stars had a single point. For the Minnesota Timberwolves, Donte DiVincenzo, who spent one season with the Golden State Warriors, notched five points, three assists, and a block in his first shift.

Minnesota’s early six-point lead was short lived, as it was just a matter of time before Curry showed up to the party. It took him three minutes to score his first five points, helping the Warriors go on a late 10-2 run and completely erase that advantage. The Wolves did get some vindication in the form of a Rudy Gobert and-one dunk off a Draymond Green foul, keeping things tied up 31-31 after a quarter of play. That punctuated a period where Minnesota won the points in the paint battle 14 to 4.

The Middle — Keeping a tired and injured team at bay

The Wolves have made a concerted effort to up the defensive intensity and attack in transition recently. They used the second quarter to demonstrate the keys to their success. Once again, we saw Gobert jump the passing lane for a steal, leading to an alley-oop. Off many of the Warriors careless turnovers and missed shots, Minnesota pushed the ball with tempo and found success.

Meanwhile, we saw more glimpses of “the old Wolves” defense. They were in Golden State’s jerseys, pushing the lead well over double-digits which was culminated by Green campaigning for a foul. After marginal contact by Randle on a rebound attempt, Green laid on the floor, “asking” for a whistle that never came. What did come, was a technical foul that was merciful, as any other player would surely be tossed for their behavior.

That massive 23-2 Minnesota run felt like it could’ve been the knockout punch against the fourth oldest team on the end of a back-to-back. Unfortunately, as we’ve come to know about this iteration of the Wolves, they went through an offensive power outage. Their poor offensive decision making stemmed from Edwards not being able to beat doubles on the catch, bogging everything down. That directly fed the Warriors putrid offense, allowing them to respond with an 11-2 run of their own. A 56-46 Minnesota lead at the half left Golden State within a stone’s throw away.

That stone came flying by as soon as the second half started.

Julius Randle’s lack of effort was the primary fuel for the Warriors comeback. His lack of focus and energy led to open three pointers and lost possessions. In just over two minutes, the Wolves lead had almost completely evaporated as Wolves Head Coach Chris Finch called a timeout. To Randle’s credit, he did what he could to regain momentum afterwards. There were three straight possessions where he played winning basketball, walling up on defense, timely kickouts leading to three, and knocking down his own open shots as well.

This gave Minnesota enough juice for Edwards to chip in another five point burst. Meanwhile, the home team was turning the ball over in what ESPN play-by-play announcer, Ryan Ruocco, accurately described as “aggressively inaccurate” passes. Similar to the first half, the Wolves didn’t use the opportunity to put the game away, staying ahead by around 10 for the latter portion of the third. What did this extra gifted time do for the Warriors? Five points in only 11.8 seconds to end the third quarter. It cut the Wolves lead back down to just 78-72, which they continued to whittle down to just three after another Curry triple to start the fourth quarter.

Were the Wolves back to their collapsing ways?

Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images

The Finish — Edwards and Gobert to the rescue

Finch had seen enough. He subbed Edwards back into the game minutes earlier than his usual fourth quarter pattern. The result was something the Warrior fans were tired of seeing.

He immediately generated seven points in his first two offensive possessions in the game. You could see the look on Curry and his teammates faces as they looked down the barrel of another double-digit hole. Their exasperation was visible in their play, as they continued to throw passes that would make even high school coaches shutter. After a Steve Kerr timeout to try and stem the bleeding, Golden State came back to the court and turned it over three straight times. The Wolves enjoyed 22 Warrior turnovers for the game.

Then shortly afterwards, one of the loudest plays came with 6:08 minutes left to go.

Naz Reid chase down blocks are becoming a thing. It led directly to a Nickeil Alexander-Walker three ball to go up 13. Then we got the Edwards and Gobert avalanche. Edwards’ offense was rolling, scoring at all three levels. That unlocked his playmaking. He had three straight dimes to Gobert that lead to six points, four of which were of the alley-oop variety.

It felt fairly obvious that Edwards was trying to get Gobert his points against a team that rostered Green. The two-time Defensive Player of the Year runner-up (Green) spent most of the 2024 NBA playoffs on TNT trying to disparage a four-time Defensive Player of the Year winner (Gobert), so it must have felt good for the Frenchman to get some retribution.

Edwards still had his fun as well. He was going at his Olympic teammate. During that final run, Kerr called another timeout as Edwards paraded around the court, yelling at anyone who was in his vicinity. That included Curry.

Kerr waved the white flag with 2:54 left in the game with the Wolves up 19. It was another feel good victory where Minnesota had to face some adversity. Did they get to play their third straight opponent on the end of a back-to-back? Sure. But did they take care of business in another convincing win against a team above them in the standings? Absolutely.

Trash talking one of the best players of all-time, who gets to play you again in 48 hours, may not be wise, but Edwards and the Wolves are willing put their money where their mouths are. The Warriors were without the services of Wiggins (ankle) and Moses Moody (knee) in the second half, so they may be even more shorthanded for the rematch.

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Game Highlights

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Up Next

The Wolves will remain in the Bay Area for a rematch at Chase Center, looking to push their win streak to five. They play the Golden State Warriors (13-9) on Sunday, 12/8 at 7:30 PM CT. A year ago, they played two straight games in San Francisco and in the second game, we had this little fracas, for those of you who forgot.