T-Wolves beat Warriors 103-102; Golden State has lost 4 of 6; Curry’s 3-point slump continues; Wiggins’ free throws win game for Minnesota; Kerr resting players in San Antonio

Well, it’s not really much of a slump, but then again this is the Warriors we’re talking about.

The Warriors lost another game on Friday night, this one to the Timberwolves 103-102 in Minneapolis. It was the Warriors’ second consecutive loss and fourth loss in the past six games. The Warriors had gone 146 games — and almost two calendar years — without losing back to back regular-season games. They’ve now lost two in a row twice in the past 10 days.

There’s a chance the slump could continue considering the Warriors play the Spurs Saturday night in San Antonio. And, coach Steve Kerr announced after the game that he would not play Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala for that one.

LINK TO “WARRIORS WRAPUP,” THE POSTGAME SHOW ON 95.7-FM.

With the loss, the Warriors’ lead over San Antonio for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs is 1 1/2 games.

Curry had a chance to win the game late, but his 20-footer with two seconds remaining rimmed out. Curry, who finished with 27 points, once again struggled from the field, finishing 10-for-27, including 1-for-8 from 3-point range. Over the past seven games, Curry is 18-for-76 from beyond the arc (23.6 percent).

The Warriors used a 13-0 second-half run to trim what had been a 90-76 deficit to just one. From there on, things remaining close and the Warriors even took the lead with 1:02 left on a Curry floater. But Wigging drew a foul with 12.8 seconds remaining and he sunk two free throws.

Kerr wasn’t pleased with the call on the play — against Zaza Pachulia — and said matter of factly after the game that the referees missed the call, that there was no foul.

The Warriors played another half where they looked more ordinary than extraordinary. And if you’ve watched the Warriors the past two-plus years you know they’ve been anything but ordinary.

But the Warriors got down by as many as 17 points in the first half before heading into the locker room down 62-53 at intermission. And it was another forgettable half for Curry, who missed all four of his 3-point attempts and committed four turnovers.

Meanwhile, the Timberwolves’ superstar, Karl-Anthony Towns, was doing major damage against the Warriors, and making them look small on the interior. Towns knocked  down 8 of 10 shots in the first half, including a couple of 3-pointers.

 

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Celtics take advantage of unusual Warriors’ lineup in fourth quarter for 99-86 win; Golden State scores just 12 points in final period; another horrid night from beyond the arc

For the second straight year, the Boston Celtics came into Oracle Arena and beat the Warriors. On Wednesday night, the Celtics were terrific for much of the fourth quarter and took advantage of a strange Golden State lineup to earn a 99-86 win.

The Celtics handed the Warriors their first loss at Oracle last season on April 1. The Warriors started the 2015-2016 season by winning their first 36 games in Oakland.

LINK TO “WARRIORS WRAPUP,” THE POSTGAME SHOW ON 95.7-FM.

The Warriors led 79-78 with seven-plus minutes left but that’s when everything fell apart and fell apart in a big way. The Celtics outscored the Warriors 15-0 to take a 93-79 lead and that was pretty much that. The Warriors committed eight of their 18 turnovers in the fourth quarter.

On the floor for a good chunk of that run was: Stephen Curry, Ian Clark, Patrick McCaw, Andre Iguodala and James Michael McAdoo. That’s not the kind of lineup you’d expect in an important game (the Spurs are creeping) in the final six minutes. But coach Steve Kerr said it was about getting his players rest, particularly amid this tough stretch of eight games in eight different cities.

LINK TO “SAL AND STEINY PODCAST,” NO. 91: Warriors’ struggles without Durant, advice for young people starting out in media, March Madness coming.

The Warriors went just 6-for-30 from 3-point range, and Curry once again struggled, going just 2-for-9 from beyond the arc. Over the past six games, Curry is 17-for-68 from beyond the arc — just 25 percent. For the season, Curry’s 3-point percentage has dropped to .397, which would be his worst shooting season, by far, in his career from beyond the arc.

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Iguodala emerges, leads Warriors to 119-111 over Hawks; bench plays key role in victory; Curry’s 3s starting to come back as Golden State goes 20-for-44 from beyond the arc

Warriors fans know that Andre Iguodala comes in fits and spurts. When he’s good, he’s been really good. And when he’s been bad, well, he still has been relatively OK — because he’s able to help a team in multiple ways.

The issue, though, with Iguodala is that he sometimes doesn’t impact games consistently enough. He tends to float a little bit. And there have also been times when he’s been downright reluctant to shoot the ball. But without Kevin Durant, Iguodala may have to try to interject himself a little more when it comes to scoring.

That’s what he did in the Warriors’ 119-111 win over the Hawks in Atlanta on Monday. Iguodala scored a season-high 24 points, to go along with five rebounds and four assists in 34 minutes, just one night after logging 30 minutes against the Knicks.

LINK TO ‘WARRIORS WRAPUP,’ THE POSTGAME SHOW FROM WARRIORS AT HAWKS.

The Warriors (52-11) also got contributions from backups Ian Clark and David West, both of whom chipped in with 10 points each.

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