March 11, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) moves the ball against Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Dunn (8) during the first half at the Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Image Two teams fighting to keep pace in the Western Conference playoff race meet on Friday in San Francisco when the Golden State Warriors take on the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Minnesota fell to sixth place in the crowded West standings after dropping three straight games, while fading Golden State fell below .500 for the first time in nearly three months.
March started off with good news for Minnesota, which briefly took third place in the West with five straight wins. Afterwards, the Timberwolves lost three straight games by an average of 22 points.
Minnesota struggled defensively in a 153-128 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday. Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers with 45 points, shooting 63.4% from the field and 51.4% (19 of 37) from 3-point range.
“It’s clearly unacceptable,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “There wasn’t a single quarter under 35 points. That’s not an acceptable defensive performance at all.”
Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 36 points against the Clippers and Naz Reid added 18 points. Julius Randle had 11 points on 3-of-10 shooting. The loss came one night after the Timberwolves lost 120-106 to the Los Angeles Lakers.
“We have to regroup, we have to play on both ends of the court,” Finch said. “(Tuesday) it was our offense and (Wednesday) it was our defense. So we’ve got to play a complete game and get back together. We know we’re a good team. It feels like we’re a million miles away from where we were a week ago, but we’re not.”
Golden State is also looking for an answer after three consecutive losses. The short-handed Warriors followed up Monday’s loss to the Utah Jazz with a 130-124 overtime loss to the visiting Chicago Bulls on Tuesday.
“Both games are very winnable,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “We should have had a lead late (Tuesday), which is obviously what we should have had. That’s what the NBA is like, especially when you’re losing. You’re not going to blow anybody out. The game is going to be tight. You’ve got to get it done. We haven’t been able to get it done either of the last two nights.”
LJ Cryer, Gui Santos, Kristaps Porzingis and Pat Spencer each scored 17 points against the Bulls, who played without Stephen Curry (knee), De’Anthony Melton (adductor), Moses Moody (wrist) and Quinten Post (foot).
Curry has missed the last 15 games and is scheduled to be re-evaluated on March 21. The Warriors qualified for the play-in tournament while sitting ninth in the West and went 5-10 in Curry’s absence.
“We’re at a point in the season where we’re fighting to survive right now,” Spencer said. “The goal is to get in 7/8 (play-in) games. I don’t think we’ll put too much stress on each game, but we know now how important every game is.”
Golden State, with 17 games left in the regular season, will lean on young players such as guard Brandin Poziemski, who scored just 9 points on 3-of-8 shooting against Chicago.
The Warriors have lost two of their three games against Minnesota this season, including a 108-83 loss on Jan. 26.
–Field level media
