The Warriors’ injury woes worsened in the loss to the Timberwolves

The Warriors had already lost when preparing to meet the Timberwolves, and late in the first quarter, they had lost Draymond Green and Al Horford, too.

Slowing down Anthony Edwards went from difficult to impossible for the underdog Warriors in a 127-117 loss that got out of hand early.

Edwards scored 42 points, including a dozen from the foul line. Rudy Gobert sank eight of 10 free throw attempts to finish with 18 as Golden State struggled to handle Minnesota’s size, speed and physicality, trailing by 25 points early in the second half.

The uncompetitive loss — and worsening injury woes — ruined what could have been a great opportunity to get healthy as Kristaps Porzingis is ready for the third time in four games. Making his first start, the 7-foot-3 center trailed only Brandin Podziemski (25) with 20 points and provided some resistance to the Timberwolves’ attack in the paint.

A place in the starting five was only available after Green was sent off about an hour before tip-off. Horford and Seth Curry also left the game in the first half and did not return.

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What does it mean

One team was going to come out of the skid, and it turned out to be the Timberwolves. Minnesota won for the first time in four games, while the Warriors’ losing streak extended to three games.

Conversion point

When Horford was ejected the rest of the game after the first quarter.

Horford started alongside Porzingis, and it initially looked like the Warriors would be able to handle the size of the Timberwolves’ starting four at 6-foot-9 or taller.

That went out the window when Horford strained his right calf during his first court appearance. Porzingis and Quinten Post are left tied as the only Warriors taller than 6-foot-7.

Minnesota bullied its way to a 52-40 edge in the paint, 23 points on 26 attempts from the foul line and 45 rebounds to 38 for the Warriors.

MVP: Anthony Edwards

The ant was unstoppable at all three levels. He made it easy for Randle and Gobert to make easy buckets before taking over, getting to the rim with ease as he retreated beyond the arc.

The Warriors entered the break down 21, 69-48, as Minnesota outscored them 38-20 in the second quarter. But they used a run of their own late in the third quarter and into the fourth to cut the deficit to single digits.

Edwards immediately set things up with back-to-back 3-pointers.

Match count: 65.4%

Whether it was Edwards or someone else, the Timberwolves got whatever they wanted inside the arc against a Warriors team that played the longest game with Post or Porzingis as their only player on the court taller than 6-foot-5.

Minnesota converted 34 of its 52 two-point field goals for a 65.4% success rate. That opened things up from beyond the perimeter, where the Timberwolves outshot the Warriors again (40% to 31.3%).

Overall, the Warriors felt the absence of their defensive player.

Next

The Warriors head to the East Coast to begin a six-game road trip Sunday against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Steph Curry (knee) will miss at least the first half of the trip, and coach Steve Kerr said before the game that he was not sure if Curry would go with the team.