With the Timberwolves ahead by three points with 11.9 seconds to play against Golden State, Anthony Edwards said assistant Micah Nori didn’t even go to the coach’s huddle near the free-throw line, as he and the other coaches normally do.
Timberwolves rally to beat Warriors behind hot three-point shooting
The Wolves shot 21-for-40 from outside the arc, then stopped Golden State’s final attempt at tying the score thanks to some sharp scouting.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
March 25, 2024 at 6:54AM
Nori knew what the Warriors were going to run on their upcoming possession and diagramed it for the Wolves. The play unfolded exactly how Nori drew it up, the team said.
“To a T,” center Naz Reid said.
Added Edwards: “Micah’s a genius, dog.”
His scouting helped the Wolves seal a 114-110 victory over Golden State on Sunday night at Target Center after Klay Thompson missed a three-point try from the left wing on the Warriors’ last chance to tie the score with 8.1 seconds left.
“That was exactly what they did. I think [Nori] got lucky,” center Rudy Gobert said with a smile.
On the play, Wolves coach Chris Finch had Kyle Anderson in the game instead of Reid at the power forward position to provide the Wolves more defensive versatility.
The inbound came to Draymond Green, and Stephen Curry set a pick for Thompson at the top of the key, but Curry’s screen wasn’t very effective as Anderson made it over the top and was able to contest Thompson’s left-wing three attempt, which fell short.
Edwards then iced the game with one of two free throws. He finished with 23 points to lead the Wolves after a slow start. Minnesota began the night by committing nine turnovers in the first quarter (the Wolves finished with 16), and Golden State led for most of the first three quarters.
But the Wolves turned Sunday’s game early in the fourth with a lineup that didn’t feature Edwards or Reid, the latter of whom had 20 points and provided some of the only steady offense the Wolves had during the first half.
Instead, a group that featured Mike Conley, Monte Morris, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Anderson and Gobert opened the fourth on a 19-8 run that flipped a three-point deficit into a 97-89 lead, the Wolves’ largest of the night.
It helped that the Wolves outshot the team with two of the greatest shooters of all time by hitting 21-for-40 (53%) from three-point range while Golden State was 14-for-36 (39%).
Six Wolves players hit at least two threes, with Alexander-Walker (11 points) sinking a pair during that fourth-quarter stretch.
“We were getting stops and we were running, trying to catch them off balance before their defense could get set,” Conley said. “You’ve got multiple playmakers in that group and, whoever got the ball, we told that guy to sprint up the court and make a play. Everybody just played off each other.”
Sunday’s game marked the first matchup between the teams since Green was suspended for putting Gobert in a chokehold during a game Nov. 14 at Golden State. Sunday’s game went off without incident from Green, who finished with 12 points. Gobert said there was no talk between him and Green.
“I’m here to play basketball,” Gobert said. “If there’s any issue, we can talk outside the court. But I’m focused on my team, I’m focused on our own goal, and I won’t allow myself to be distracted by anyone.”
The game meant more for the Warriors than it did for the Wolves, as Houston has now pulled to within a game of Golden State for the final Western Conference play-in spot, while the Wolves picked up a game on Oklahoma City, which lost to Milwaukee. Denver now controls the top spot in the West by a half-game over the Thunder and one game over the No. 3 Wolves after Sunday. Edwards said he was happy he has been able to prove some of his Team USA teammates wrong about their prognostications over the summer, and that the Wolves aren’t where the Warriors are now.
“I’m just happy we not in the play-in game,” Edwards said. “My [Team] USA brothers, they thought we was gonna be in the play-in again, so I’m happy to prove them wrong.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 32 points and was an assist away from a triple-double, Damian Lillard added 25 and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Atlanta Hawks 110-102 on Saturday to earn a spot in the NBA Cup championship game.
