The Minnesota Timberwolves and the Golden State Warriors will square off in an effort to move further away from the NBA’s play-in tournament at the Chase Center.
Latest news on Stephen Curry, Anthony Edwards and Klay Thompson
When these teams meet for the fourth and final time this season, playoff positioning, the season series, and tiebreakers all come into play.
The Warriors (39-36) and Timberwolves (37-37) began the weekend on opposite sides of the play-in line, with Golden State sixth and Minnesota seventh in the West.
With both teams entering Sunday’s action at 25-20, a Timberwolves victory would cut their deficit to a half game while also evening the season series and giving Minnesota an edge on the second playoff tiebreaker.
The Timberwolves have won two in a row, and Wednesday’s 125-124 home thriller against the Atlanta Hawks was arguably the most significant game of the season so far.
The Timberwolves avoided a 38th loss, which would have dropped them at least two spots in the Western standings, and also welcomed back Karl-Anthony Towns after he missed 51 games with a strained right calf.
Towns played 26 minutes and scored 22 points, the final two coming on a pair of free throws with 3.6 seconds left to seal the victory.
Chris Finch, head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves, has said that Karl-Anthony Towns will be on a minutes restriction for the team’s upcoming games. This could mean that Towns sits out one or both halves of a back-to-back set that concludes on Monday in Sacramento.
There has been no word on which game Towns might miss, but given the closeness of the Timberwolves and Warriors in the standings, that one stands out more.
- Anthony Edwards – Questionable
Anthony Edwards has missed the last three games for the Minnesota Vikings with a sprained right ankle. He was given the all-clear to return to practice on Friday, but he missed the day due to illness, making his status for Sunday’s game against the Golden State Warriors doubtful.
Meanwhile, if the Warriors were to win on Sunday, they would be virtually assured of finishing ahead of the Timberwolves in the Western Conference.
It would give the Warriors the season series tiebreaker and put them 2.5 games ahead with 6 to play.
A huge victory over the 76ers just occurred for the Dubs (120-112). In 38 minutes of action, Stephen Curry scored 29 points (10-18 FG, 2-7 3Pt, 7-8 FT), grabbed eight boards, and dished out three assists.
Curry has averaged 30.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 5.7 assists in 35.6 minutes over his past 11 games since returning from a month-long absence due to a leg injury.
Recently, Klay Thompson has not been performing well. Even so, he’s still in this game, and I’m crossing my fingers he’ll be able to get back on his feet soon.
The Warriors are still without Andrew Wiggins due to personal reasons, but they may get to see Gary Payton II, who was acquired from the Trail Blazers in February, make his debut. Payton is questionable for Saturday’s game against Minnesota due to an adductor injury.
Payton worked out with the Warriors and said he felt ready to play for the first time since the Trail Blazers-Warriors game on February 8.
Injury report Warriors:
- Andre Iguodala (Wrist) – Out
- Andrew Wiggins (Personal) – Out
- Ty Jerome (Not Injury Related) – Out
- Ryan Rollins (Foot) – Out
Injury report Timberwolves:
- Jaylen Nowell (Knee) – Questionable
- Karl-Anthony Towns (Calf) – Questionable
- Anthony Edwards (Ankle) – Questionable
