The Minnesota Timberwolves stalled the Golden State Warriors’ pursuit of history Tuesday night, riding a fourth-quarter comeback and Andrew Wiggins’ nine points in overtime to a shocking, 124-117 victory.
Minnesota, which trailed by 15 points in the first quarter and 17 with just 18 minutes to go, held Golden State without a field goal for the final 2:23 of regulation, then scored the first four points of the overtime session to propel itself to the unlikely win.
Centre Karl-Anthony Towns had two key hoops midway through the overtime to keep the Warriors at bay, helping deny Golden State a 70th win on the season.
The Warriors (69-9) still have a chance to beat the Chicago Bulls’ all-time record win total of 72, but now they must sweep their final four games, including a Thursday home showdown with the San Antonio Spurs (65-12).
Golden State will take a 3 1/2-game lead over the Spurs into that game. A Warriors win would clinch the top seeding in the Western Conference playoffs.
Golden State also visits San Antonio on Sunday.
Reserve guard Shabazz Muhammad had a career-high 35 points, and Wiggins added 32 for the Timberwolves, who had lost three in a row, all to Western playoff clubs and hopefuls.
Golden State, meanwhile, lost at home for just the second time this season. The Warriors had a 114-game win streak snapped in games in which they led by 15 or more points.
The Warriors, who were on top 25-10 less than seven minutes into the game, enjoyed their biggest lead at 71-54 in the third period.
After an early 18-2 explosion that opened the 15-point lead, the Warriors struggled against a Timberwolves team that recorded wins at Oklahoma City, Memphis and Washington last month.
Golden State led 86-78 entering the final period but saw that disappear into a 94-all tie with 6:40 to go.
The Timberwolves seemed to catch a bad break when, down by three with 1:09 to go, a possible three-point play by star centre Towns was overturned on a replay to an offensive foul.
However, Minnesota shut down the Golden State offense and eventually forced overtime when Wiggins got to the basket for a driving hoop that tied the game at 106-all with 19.8 seconds left.
The Warriors then failed to get off a shot before the horn sounded to end regulation.
Golden State scored just 11 points in overtime, missing eight of its 12 shots.
Minnesota (26-52) won the game at the free-throw line, where it outscored Golden State 28-7. Muhammad went 15-for-17 and Wiggins 8-for-9 at the line.
Towns finished with a 20-point, 12-rebound double-double, and Zach LaVine added 16 points for the Timberwolves, who opened a three-game trip by handing Golden State its first overtime loss of the season after six wins.
Klay Thompson had 28 points and Stephen Curry 21 for the Warriors, but they combined for just 8-for-25 shooting on 3-pointers.
Curry experienced an especially rough night, going 7-for-25 from the field and 4-for-14 from beyond the arc.
He did lead all players with 15 assists.
Andrew Bogut had a 10-point, 15-rebound double-double for the Warriors, and Harrison Barnes scored 20.
© Reuters
