Anthony Edwards vs Steph Curry rematch key to Timberwolves vs Warriors – NBC Sports Bay Area & California

SAN FRANCISCO – With the Warriors facing the Minnesota Timberwolves for the second time in three days, we have our first immediate individual rematch of the season.

For the Warriors: Stephen Curry.
For the Timberwolves: Anthony Edwards.

When the teams meet Sunday afternoon at the Chase Center (5:30 tipoff), Curry and the Warriors will look to avenge the 107-90 beating they received last Friday. Minnesota took charge with a 21-2 run early in the second quarter, then responded to Golden State’s third-quarter rally by opening the fourth with a 23-9 run.

Although the Warriors punished themselves in several ways — including a season-high 22 turnovers — the Timberwolves’ defense was the deciding factor. Golden State scored 31 points in the first quarter, but only 59 (to Minnesota’s 76) over the final three.

Much of the damage was done by Edwards, who had game highs in points (30, on 11-of-18 shooting, including 4-of-10 from distance), assists (nine) and plus-minus (plus-23) . He scored 18 points in the second half, 11 of which came in the fourth quarter.

Edwards was able to orchestrate the action despite often facing double teams.

“He was pretty masterful at it,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. “We’ve got to do a little better job of getting clean spacing around some of the time he gets doubled, but I thought he did a great job of getting off it, running it, getting down downhill, mix it up. When we needed him to step up and just make a shot out of nowhere, he did that a couple of times.”

Curry, also facing some double teams, was unable to respond. Playing with sore knees that kept him out of the previous game, he finished with 23 points but shot just 6-of-17 from the field, including 3-of-9 from beyond the arc. He committed three turnovers, two in the fourth quarter.

Curry’s minus-3 was the team’s best plus-minus among those who played at least 20 minutes. The Warriors were at their relative best when Curry was on the floor, they were demolished (minus-14) when he was subbed out.

“It’s been tough to score at times, but we can’t let that affect our overall commitment on both ends of the ball,” Curry said. “The good news is that we have another option on Sunday.”

A Golden State win would snap a five-game losing streak against the Timberwolves, and a loss would be its seventh in eight games.

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