Top-5 Timberwolves Games from 2015-16: Road win at GS
By Ben Beecken
This is the Part Five in a five-part series reliving the top-five Timberwolves games from the 2015-16 season.
Welcome to the Top-Five Timberwolves Games of 2015-16 series.
To help tide us over until training camp in October, we’re in the midst of ranking the top victories of last season, factoring in opponent, result, individual performances, and the overall enjoyment of each individual contest. Links to the previous articles are below. Enjoy!
#5 – Tough road win in Atlanta (link)
#4 – Second night of back-to-back over the Clippers (link)
#3 – Timberwolves defeat Bulls in OT at United Center to start season 3-2 (link)
#2 – Karl-Anthony Towns wins game in final seconds at Portland (link)
#1 – Timberwolves beat defending-champion Golden State Warriors on the road in overtime
Heading into the April 5th match-up at Oracle Arena in Oakland, the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors had a ridiculous 69-8 record. With five games to play, coach Steve Kerr‘s squad only had to win four of it’s last five contests to break the Chicago Bulls all-time-best win-loss record of 72-10.
After losing their first home game of the year to the Boston Celtics four nights prior, the Warriors destroyed the Portland Trail Blazers and seemed to be back on track with the then-25-52 Wolves headed into town.
But interim head coach Sam Mitchell‘s bunch had other ideas for this nationally-televised game.
Despite coming out of the gate slow and trailing by a 28-19 margin after the first quarter, the Wolves hung tough and maintained the nine-point deficit at halftime.
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Andrew Wiggins and Shabazz Muhammad carried Minnesota to a 32-point third quarter, combining for 22 of the Wolves’ points in the frame. The Warriors scored 31 points of their own, however, and still lead by eight points heading to the final stanza.
In the fourth quarter, the Warriors bench struggled to score early while Muhammad, Wiggins, and the rest of the Timberwolves’ young core continued to cut into Golden State’s already slim lead. The rest of the final frame was tightly-contested, with Wiggins converting a bucket with 20 seconds left on the clock to tie the game and send it to overtime.
In the extra session, Wiggins went on a quick 4-0 run while Stephen Curry committed a turnover and missed two shots in Golden State’s first three possessions of overtime.
And ultimately, overtime was dominated by Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns. The two players combined to score 14 of the Wolves’ 18 points, while the Warriors only managed 11 points on their home court, ultimately falling to the visiting Timberwolves by a final tally of 124-117.
Wiggins had an outstanding showing, dropping 32 points on 11-of-19 shooting, including 2-for-3 from beyond the arc and 8-of-9 at the free throw line. He also grabbed six steals and five rebounds while handing out four assists.
Towns had 20 points, 12 rebounds, and four assists, while Muhammad scored a game-high 35 points on 9-of-12 shooting off the bench.
It was an exhilarating night for the Timberwolves and their fans, and realistically could be one of the initial springboards towards the Wolves’ turnaround as a franchise, depending what happens this season, of course.
Next: Timberwolves' 2016-17 Schedule Announced
A turnaround that began, more or less, with the drafting of one Karl-Anthony Towns.