Warriors rally to beat Wolves

Published 9:00 am Monday, November 26, 2012

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Klay Thompson scored a season-high 24 points, Stephen Curry added 20 points and six assists, and the Golden State Warriors beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 96-85 on Saturday night.

The Warriors trailed most of the game but went on a 19-2 run, with reserves Carl Landry, Draymond Green and rookie Harrison Barnes providing the bulk of the scoring. Landry had five points, Green had four and Barnes — who had a thunderous one-handed dunk over Minnesota’s 6-foot-11 center Nikola Pekovic in the second quarter — added three to help Golden State go ahead for good.

David Lee added 17 points and eight rebounds for the Warriors, who have won 10 of 12 against the Timberwolves.

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Kevin Love had 15 points and 15 rebounds for Minnesota, his third straight double-double since returning from a broken right hand.

Thompson was criticized earlier in the week after a poor shooting performance against Dallas on Nov. 19, but has been steady since. He shot just 1 of 8 from 3-point range but was 7 of 9 inside the arc and is averaging 21 points over his past three games.

The Warriors gave Thompson plenty of support while beating the Timberwolves for the second time this season.

Landry finished with 18 points and nine rebounds off the bench, while Barnes added 10 points and 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.

Landry, Barnes and Green came up big after Golden State fell behind 79-74 early in the fourth quarter.

The trio combined for 12 points as part of the 19-2 run that put the Warriors ahead 93-81.

Minnesota, still missing several key injured players, couldn’t keep up and lost its fifth straight.

The Timberwolves made several mistakes along the way, blowing a 3-on-1 fast break in the first half, then shooting just 32.4 percent in the second half.

Not even a gift basket by Golden State’s Andris Biedrins was enough to help coach Rick Adelman’s struggling squad. Biedrins was battling a teammate for a rebound underneath Minnesota’s basket when he accidentally tipped the ball into the hoop.

The Warriors have their own injury issues.

They lost key reserve Brandon Rush to a season-ending knee injury in their home opener on Nov. 2, and have been without center Andrew Bogut for nine straight games and backup forward Richard Jefferson for four.

Bogut, the No. 1 overall pick in 2005 who broke his ankle on Jan. 25, has played in only four games this season but the team said last week it hopes the 7-foot Australian can resume practicing Monday.

Rookie Festus Ezeli, who had two points and three rebounds against Minnesota, has struggled to give the Warriors much presence in the post during Bogut’s absence, though Golden State’s overall rebounding numbers have been surprising good.

The Warriors outrebounded the Timberwolves 48-39.

Golden State took an early six-point lead but Minnesota closed the first quarter on a 12-4 run, highlighted by Andrei Kirilenko’s breakaway dunk.

Love had six quick rebounds in his third game since returning from a broken right hand but was on the bench when the Timberwolves built a 35-24 lead with mostly reserves on the floor.

The Warriors came back and tied the score at 47-all on Thompson’s short runner, but Jose Barea made a 9-foot jumper and Kirilenko followed with an emphatic dunk to give Minnesota a 51-47 halftime lead.

Thompson scored eight points in the third and Lee had six straight to help give Golden State a 70-68 lead before the Timberwolves answered with a 6-0 run to maintain a four-point edge heading into the fourth.