MINNEAPOLIS — In five games, the Warriors have held double-digit leads in the fourth quarter three times. Their winning percentage in such contests? Well, let’s just say it’s not 1.000.
Golden State went up by 24 midway early in the second half Wednesday night against the Timberwolves, still led by 11 with 2:16 to play and still barely hung on to win, 119-114.
And yet, in Steve Kerr’s eyes? It’s all positive.
“We didn’t do a good job closing, but … I kind of liked what happened,” Kerr said. “Because we need to learn from it.”
Golden State also led 106-94 with 3:41 left this past Friday against the Grizzlies. In that one, the Warriors’ offense went comatose and they allowed Memphis to mount a 17-0 run to steal a win.
So, you could say they’re making progress, at least.
The Grizzlies loss dropped them to 0-3, their worst start since 2007-08. They risked returning home 2-4, off a 1-2 road trip, as they watched Minnesota cut their 24-point lead down to four.
“There’s a slight bit of relief,” Steph Curry said of improving to 2-3 on the season after their poor start, “but there’s still an understanding that the Memphis game in the second half, tonight mostly in the fourth quarter, we know we can play better.”
The Timberwolves, missing Anthony Edwards, weren’t able to pull off the same stunner that Memphis did. But they put up enough of a fight to set off alarm bells in the Warriors locker room.
The closest they got came after a sloppy offensive possession that ended in a missed 3 from Curry, allowing Jonathan Kuminga to set up Ayo Dosunmu for a 3 on the other end.
Dosunmu’s triple cut the Warriors’ lead to 116-112 with 45 seconds left.
But the game began to turn long before that.
Curry got to the line for two of his eventual 16 free throws to put Golden State up 73-50 a little less than 3 minutes into the third quarter. Then Draymond Green threw the ball away, Yaxel Lendeborg got his pocket picked twice in three possessions and Curry stepped out of bounds.
Four turnovers in a span of barely more than 2 minutes of gametime. Kerr had seen enough after TJ Shannon turned the last one into 3 points on the other end, making it 73-53.
“We smelled blood in the water,” Kerr said. “We thought we needed to make great plays, spectacular plays, in order to extend it to 30, instead of just making solid plays.”
The margin never reached 30. Minnesota scored 64 of the final 110 points.
“We let them off the hook when we were up 73-50 with all those turnovers. The whole game changed right then at that point,” Kerr said. “That’s when it got wild and crazy.”
The Warriors have traditionally thrived in chaos. That’s not their plan anymore. The game turned into a track meet. Advantage: the younger and more athletic Timberwolves.
It was a different formula than the Memphis game, when Zach Edey and Grizzlies gobbled up offensive rebounds that negated good defensive possessions, and the Warriors couldn’t buy a bucket, despite getting the shots they wanted.
In this case, the Warriors allowed Minnesota to impose its preferred style of play. It didn’t help that the Timberwolves drained 10 second-half 3s to just one by the Warriors.
“I think a lot of it is just getting organized offensively where you’re using the other team’s desperation and pressure against them,” Curry said. “It seems like we kind of get playing on our heels a little bit. Then you’re just kind of hoping and wishing shots go in.”
There are two ways to look at it: On the one hand, the Warriors are the single-most veteran team in the NBA, and that makeup should have no problem closing out games.
On the other, Golden State is also implementing a new way of doing things offensively and integrating a few players into new roles. Game 82 should look different from Game 5.
“We know we gave that game away to Memphis,” Curry said. “This one was a little more nerve-wracking than it should’ve been. We still have a lot of things to do. You like learning lessons while you’re winning. A 2-1 road trip — that’s a step in the right direction.”
