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 Curry scored 46 points to lead the Golden State Warriors to a
129-116 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center.
Mitchell, Minnesota's interim head coach, said his team played good
defense. They contested shots. They put pressure on Curry.
It did not matter.
"You commit so much effort to try and slow Steph Curry down and he
still scores (46) points," Mitchell said. "You sit there and wonder,
if you don't do those things and you just try to play him
conventionally, he might get 60."
It was the fourth time this season Curry scored at least 20 points
in a single quarter and his third 40-point game. He shot 15-for-25
on the night, including 8-for-13 from 3-point range.
"He was decent tonight. He was OK," Warriors interim coach Luke
Walton said with a smile.
"He's just so dangerous. At any time, he can go on a 6-0, 8-0 run
just off of transition and getting a steal and putting it up for
three. He's always in attack mode."
At 10-0, Golden State is off to the best start in franchise history.
The 1960-61 Warriors opened 9-0.
"Definitely a good start to the season, best start we could have
hopes for," Curry said. "(We) just want to keep it going. We can
still play better."
Andrew Wiggins led Minnesota with 19 points, Karl-Anthony Towns
finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds, and reserve forward Shabazz
Muhammad added 16 points in 19 minutes.
The Timberwolves, who are 4-0 on the road this season, dropped to
0-4 at home.
Curry had 21 points after the first quarter and 25 at the half as
the Warriors looked to run away with the game early.
'ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE'
The Warriors scored the game's first 10 points, including six by
Curry. He had 12 points and lifted the Warriors to a 22-10 lead
before Minnesota called timeout less than halfway through the
quarter.
Curry finished the first quarter 6-for-9 from the floor, including
4-for-5 from beyond the arc, as the Warriors led by 40-27 after the
period.
With last season's MVP on the bench, Minnesota pulled as close as
48-42 midway through the second but trailed 75-63 at the half. The
75 points scored by Golden State are the most by any team in a half
this season.
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With Minnesota getting back into the game, Curry entered and scored
10 more in the third, including back-to-back threes as Golden State
pushed their lead to its largest of the night at 21 points.
However, the Wolves closed the quarter on an 11-0 run, capped by
guard Kevin Martin's 18-foot jumper at the buzzer to pull within
97-87.
"I was hoping he was going to be done," Walton said. "He played some
big minutes last night but obviously it was going to depend on how
the game went. That's a good team and they fought back and got back
into it."
Martin started the fourth with a 3-pointer to get Minnesota back
within single digits, and the Wolves clawed as close as 104-99
before the Warriors pulled away late.
"To get down a deficit like we did, to roar back and be so close,"
Towns said, "that's something, like I've said before, we just
continue to fight. When the team fights, anything is possible."
All five Warriors starters finished in double figures. Forward
Draymond Green had 23 points to go with 12 assists and eight
rebounds.
"We got some stops and crawled our way back into it," Mitchell said.
"Then when you have Klay Thompson and (Andre) Iguodala and Harrison
Barnes and Draymond Green, and all those guys, they spread the floor
really well.
"They're just a very tough basketball team to defend because of all
those shooters. You can't leave anybody open."
(Compiled by Peter Rutherford)
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