Preview: Without Curry and Wiggins, the Warriors face the Timberwolves at home

The Golden State Warriors are taking on the Minnesota Timberwolves today in a clash of teams with championship aspirations and mediocre records. The Dubs are 30-30 while the Wolves are 31-31, good enough to place them into the 7th and 8th seeds respectively.

But they’re both missing their franchise players, with both Stephen Curry and Karl-Anthony Towns sidelined with injuries. And as both teams jostle for playoff positioning, it’s clear that this is a game that could have implications down the line when seedings are finalized.

Golden State Warriors vs Minnesota TimberwolvesFebruary 26th, 2023 | 4:30 PM PTWatch: NBC Sports Bay Area | Listen: 95.7 The Game

The Warriors are a funny bunch this year. After storming through the NBA playoffs last season to become NBA champions (again), they’ve been befuddled by injuries, turnovers, and an inconsistent defense. They’re currently ranked 20th in the league in defensive rating, and if you filter for only road games they drop to 28th.

That’s a scary thought considering during the Splash Bro era Golden State’s dogged defense and swagger away from home have been the foundation by which championships were forged. Thankfully they’ll be playing in the friendly confines of Chase Center today when they take on Minnesota. Unfortunately they’re missing their best wing defender Andrew Wiggins, as the former Timberwolf is out for this contest with personal reasons.

Meanwhile the Timberwolves have lost two out of their last three contests, beating the Dallas Mavericks but dropping games to the Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards.

Minnesota provides some danger in this matchup, as young star Anthony Edwards is dropping ridiculous stat lines on a nightly basis and was recently LeBron James’ first pick in the All-Star game.

The last time Edwards met Golden State, his 27 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists helped erase a double-digit fourth quarter deficit in a comeback that ultimately led to Minnesota handing the champs a mind-numbing loss.

Will Golden State be able to contain the Ant Man today? If so, that’ll go a long way to ensuring they get above .500 and keep the Timberwolves at bay in the race to get out of the play-in seedings.

Source: https://www.goldenstateofmind.com