Steph Curry gets Warriors a win in Minnesota, pushes back against ‘crazy’ surrender narrative

On By Littum

MINNEAPOLIS — In the 36 hours after Steph Curry’s comments after the game in Toronto — backing Draymond Green and Steve Kerr’s contention that the Warriors’ front office shouldn’t mortgage the future to maximize their present — the national discourse on the fading state of the organization was fierce.

The surface narrative that bothered Kerr and Curry, an avid consumer of under-the-radar Internet content, was the subject of surrender. Some people interpreted that as Kerr and Curry waving the white flag on this season and maybe even the competitive portion of his time with the Warriors and in the NBA. Had they given up?

Despite denying it as extra fuel, there was an extra level of obvious motivation in Curry’s play and focus in the Warriors to close out a grueling road trip Thursday night. He came out strong, hitting four 3s in the first quarter, and the depleted roster around him defended with a level of aggression that has been rare of late.

That resulted in a 26-5 lead after nine minutes, a 24-point first-half cushion and enough breath to put them past the finish line down the stretch, beating the Timberwolves, 116-115, handling a front line of Anthony Edwards, Rudy Gobert, Naz Reid and Julius Randle despite missing Draymond Green, Jonathan Kuminga and Kyle Anderson.

“I hope there’s not a misunderstanding that we’re not fighting and scrapping and doing everything to keep it going,” Kerr said. “It almost feels like the narrative became that the Warriors are giving in. We’re not giving in. We’re just not giving the future away. They’re two completely different things. We’re fighting.”

Curry hit two of the biggest 3s down the stretch. His seventh of the night broke a 108-108 tie with 47 seconds left. He finished with 31 points, capping it off with two free throws with 6.1 seconds left. Then he went on SportsCenter right after the pitch and started taking subtle jabs.

“Any Twitter fingers that have deals that we’re going to make, like shut up and let us figure this out,” Curry told the broadcast.

Curry has understood the reluctance of Mike Dunleavy and the Warriors front office to overpay. He was involved in the discussions about Paul George and Lauri Markkanen this summer. He goes into far more detail than the public about what is and is not available on the trade market at the moment. He gave the green light for the Dennis Schröder deal in December.

Curry still craves some extra rotation help before the Feb. 6 trade deadline. He also seems to know it likely won’t come in the form of a legitimate second star scorer who could push this team into real contention and is comfortable with the front office’s current approach, given his awareness of their inner workings.

“Anyone who thinks I’m OK to be on an average basketball team is insane,” Curry said. “Take what I said, I still stand by it. But that doesn’t mean we’re not in a situation where we’re trying to get better, make the appropriate moves to help you do that. Mike knows that. We It’s the expectation from me. It’s what people’s definition of it is. But what does it look like? must handle our business Mike will handle sit. We’ll see where we end up.”

Curry got the help he needed in the Warriors’ third win of the season over the Timberwolves. Without their three power forwards, Kerr started Gui Santos in that slot. Santos brought a ton of energy to open the game, hitting an open 3 and getting a handful of extra possessions during the hot start.

Moses Moody played behind him at the power forward slot and even guarded Rudy Gobert down the stretch. Moody received 25 minutes, close to his season-high, and was productive, making three big 3s and handling the physical nature of his set-up assignment.

Buddy Hield had his best game in a while. He scored 18 points off the bench and hit three free throws in the fourth quarter that kept his head above water as the Timberwolves roared back. Gary Payton II returned from a 10-game absence and spent part of the game guarding Anthony Edwards. He also made a free throw in the final seconds and missed the second, which was tipped back by Kevon Looney, who combined with Trayce Jackson-Davis for 10 offensive rebounds.

“Really nice to see them get rewarded,” Kerr said.

But Andrew Wiggins was the second most important performer. Without Kuminga, he’s needed to step up his scoring and aggression, handling a different scoring role alongside Curry that he may not be equipped for more on a nightly basis. But against the Timberwolves, he attacked the rim, challenged their shot-blockers and used the whistle-happy officials. Wiggins finished with 24 points, including 10 made free throws.

“With Draymond missing the last two games, that helps the scoring bump,” Curry said. “We’ve struggled to get over the 100 mark for a few games. When he’s aggressive and looking to score, that helps us.”

But his big night can’t be attributed to the simmering discourse about this existential moment for the Warriors (which could mean his inclusion in a trade). Wiggins saw none of it.

“Never seen anything,” he said. “What happened? Man, I go home or go to my room, watch my TV shows and relax. I don’t watch too much.”

But does he feel the growing pressure in these fading Curry years?

“You want to win,” Wiggins said. “I feel like we’ve got the guard to do it. We’ve got Steph Curry. Steph Curry is who he is. One of the best people, players to ever touch a basketball. We’ve just got to keep playing hard. We started 12-3. We know what we’re capable of. We just have to get back at it.”

Another sign of the increasing urgency: Kerr played Curry a season-high 37 minutes. He has spent most of the season limiting Curry to around 32 and doesn’t like to stretch it beyond 34.

“I hate that his minutes are creeping up,” Kerr said. “I don’t like it. But we have to do what we have to do. Hopefully when we get reinforcements back we can get him back into the 32.

The Warriors also have two days off before beginning a long stretch in California on Saturday night against the league-worst 6-32 Wizards. Eight of their next nine games are at home, and the only road game is in Sacramento, presenting a key piece of the schedule for them to gain traction (or not) before the trade deadline.

(Photo of Steph Curry: David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)