The Warriors take on the Timberwolves on Thursday.
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TIPOFF AGAINST TIMBERWOLVES
The Warriors start 2020 by wrapping up their two-game road trip with a Thursday evening matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves. This game is the third and final time this season these squads will go head-to-head after the first two games were split 1-1. The Dubs won the previous contest on the home hardwood at Chase Center on a big night from the starting backcourt of D’Angelo Russell (30 points) and Alec Burks (25). Russell also posted 52 points against Minnesota in their first meeting of the season in an overtime thriller, giving him season averages of 41 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 4.5 assists against the Timberwolves on the 2019-20 campaign.
LAST TIME OUT
The Warriors forced a tightly contested matchup against the San Antonio Spurs into overtime, but the Dubs were unable to rally late and dropped their final game of the year and decade, 117-113. Full Recap
MATCHUP AT A GLANCE
| GSW | MIN |
|---|---|
| 9-26 | 12-20 |
| 15th in West | 12th in West |
| PTS: 105.9 (24th) | PTS: 112.3 (12th) |
| REB: 43.8 (23rd) | REB: 46.6 (6th) |
| AST: 24.2 (15th) | AST: 22.1 (24th) |
LAST GAME’S STARTERS
GSW: D’Angelo Russell, Glenn Robinson III, Damion Lee, Draymond Green and Willie Cauley-Stein
MIN: Shabazz Napier, Jarrett Culver, Robert Covington, Kelan Martin and Gorgui Dieng
INJURY & ROSTER NOTES
GSW: Willie Cauley-Stein (illness), Stephen Curry (left hand fracture), Klay Thompson (left ACL rehab) are out. D’Angelo Russell (right shoulder contusion), Kevon Looney (left abdominal soreness) are TBD. Team Notes
MIN: Karl-Anthony Towns (knee), Andrew Wiggins (illness) and Jake Layman (toe) are TBD. Team Notes
CHRISS CLEANING UP
Marquese Chriss finished Tuesday’s game with seven points and five assists to go along with 11 rebounds in the Dubs’ effort against the San Antonio Spurs. The outing marked Chriss’ fifth game in double-digit rebounding, all of which have come over the Warriors’ last 10 games. In that span, Chriss has averaged 2.9 offensive rebounds per game including four games in which he pulled down five-or-more boards on offense.
TEAM LEADERS
| GSW | MIN |
|---|---|
| PTS: Russell (23.2) | PTS: Towns (26.5) |
| REB: Green (6.4) | REB: Towns (11.7) |
| AST: Russell (6.0) | AST: Teague (6.3) |
MINNESOTA SCOUTING REPORT
After being defeated by the Warriors at Chase Center on Dec. 23 to extended their losing streak at time to 11 games, the Timberwolves have won two of their last four games with both of those wins coming in overtime against the Sacramento Kings and Brooklyn Nets. Though the team’s two leading scorers in Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins have posted new career highs across statistical categories including points, three-point shots made, and assists, both have been out of the team’s recent games: Towns has missed six games as he recovers from a sprained left knee and Wiggins has dealt with flu-like symptoms. Without these two players in the frontcourt, scoring for the Timberwolves has been a team effort as eight different players have scored in double figures over their last two games to make up for the absence of the combined 51 points Towns and Wiggins score per night.
