Minnesota Timberwolves at Golden State Warriors: Odds, injuries, what to watch

The Minnesota Timberwolves will look to continue the good vibes as they visit the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night.

Minnesota Timberwolves at Golden State Warriors: Odds, injuries, what to watch for

The Minnesota Timberwolves have won four out of their last five games and head to the Bay Area to take on the formidable Golden State Warriors.

The Wolves defeated the Warriors less than two weeks at Target Center, but it was a game that Steph Curry missed due to a minor hand injury. It was the only contest that Curry missed with the injury, and the Warriors have won four of their last five games.

Golden State sits at 35-13 on the season and is comfortably in the No. 2 spot in the Western Conference.

For their part, Minnesota is finally above the .500 mark at 24-23 and is a half-game ahead of both Los Angeles teams and in sole possession of the No. 7 spot in the West. They are two games behind the Denver Nuggets for the coveted No. 6 spot — the seed just above the play-in fray.

Minnesota Timberwolves odds at Golden State Warriors

The Warriors are 6.5-point favorites over the Timberwolves on Thursday night, according to WynnBet. It’s probably a fair line. Even without Draymond Green, a Warriors squad with a healthy Curry, Klay Thompson, and Andrew Wiggins should be favored to win by multiple possessions, regardless of how well the Wolves have been playing of late.

TV and streaming info for Minnesota Timberwolves at Golden State Warriors

• Tip-off: 9:00 CT
• Television: TNT, Bally Sports North
• Radio: 830 WCCO
• Stream: Fubo.tv offers streaming options

What to watch for in Minnesota Timberwolves at Golden State Warriors

Don’t look now, but the Timberwolves’ defense, which had been a top-12 unit virtually all season, has struggled over the past 10 games.

The Wolves had another spotty defensive performance in Tuesday’s win over Portland, as well, giving up 34 points in the second quarter due to a bevy of wide-open 3-point attempts, and then gave up a 10-1 run in the closing moments of the fourth, allowing the Blazers to tie the game down the stretch.

While they were able to get the stop on the final possession of the contest, it was an uneven defensive performance at best.

Believe it or not, Golden State is just No. 13 in offensive rating so far this season. Of course, No. 13 isn’t exactly something so sneeze at, it just seems like it could be higher. The reintroduction of Thompson will surely have a positive impact over time, and Curry went through a bit of a shooting slump late that is fairly atypical of what we’ve come to expect from the future Hall-of-Famer.

Defensively, however, the Warriors are the No. 1-rated team in the league. They’re the top defensive rebounding team and No. 4 in opponent turnover rate, and opponents shoot a league-low 32.7 percent from 3-point range.

The Wolves will have their work cut out for them offensively, although Karl-Anthony Towns has put up a pair of double-doubles against the Warriors and should be able to dominate on the inside, especially in the absence of Green.

Hopefully, Patrick Beverley will return in time to help check Curry. Otherwise, D’Angelo Russell, Anthony Edwards, and Malik Beasley will have their hands full in the backcourt.

Injury report for Minnesota Timberwolves at Golden State Warriors

The Wolves continue to list Beverley (ankle) as questionable. He hasn’t played since last Wednesday.

New to the injury report is Jaylen Nowell, due to a sacrum contusion. It would obviously be a huge hit to the Wolves’ bench productivity if Nowell is unable to go and would increase Beasley’s role.

The Warriors are without Green and Andre Iguodala. James Wiseman has been out all season with a knee injury.

We’ll be back after the game with key takeaways and player grades. Enjoy the game, and here’s to 25-23!