🏀 Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Golden State Warriors Preview and Prediction - 1/15/25 👀
The struggling Warriors look to right the ship in Minnesota before changing course and heading home to the Bay after a long road trip
Golden State makes another trek to the Great Lakes region (yes, that is what it should be called, and we will continue to do so) to take on a Timberwolves team that is having an up and down season, to say the least. The Warriors are desperate for some easy victories, but that likely won’t happen here as the Twolves are desperate to find some consistency.
Golden State is not having a fun time. The legendary core was broken apart this season when the front office spurned Klay Thompson and he rightfully left to Dallas, and the remnants are struggling to stay at .500 and manage their workloads with injury problems testing their depth. The recent loss of Jonathan Kuminga, who seemed to be taking a leap this season, is not helping matters, and that has been evident in their last five games, only one of which was a victory while the other four weren’t particularly close losses. Statistically, Golden Sate is now consistently average by almost any metric, and they rely on epic performances by Steph to get them over the hill. He is still very capable of doing so, but the burden appears significant and the Warriors will hope to save enough in the reserve tank for a playoff run.
An up and down season has plagued the Minnesota Timberwolves, after an amazing season a year ago and some major offseason moves that looked to take this team from championship contender to champion. While everyone has struggled to gel in various ways, the most notable has been the unhappiness of star Anthony Edwards, who has become increasingly vocal both on and off the court about the way teams are defending him and his perceived lack of officiating generosity. As a team, a team known for their defense a year ago has seen stretches where they rank near the bottom in defensive efficiency (over the holidays, for example), and stretches where that dominance has returned. There has been very little predictability with Minnesota thus far, and it has produced some high highs and some very low lows. Things have been better recently, however, with the Twolves winning four out of their last 5 games coming into this one, albeit against some lower tier competition for the most part.
Injuries have been a major story for the Warriors this season, but tonight they should be relatively healthy in comparison. Draymond is questionable, so that is the big one to watch out for. Gary Payton II may make his return this evening as well, which would give the Warriors depth a much needed boost.
Golden State 110 Minnesota 109
These teams have already met 3 times this season, with the Warriors taking 2 out of 3, including the most recent meeting being a Warriors victory in Minnesota. This should be another close one, and we are going to assume that the Warriors will play everyone, which creates some value on the visitors here. Minnesota should be better on a more consistent basis than the Warriors, but their erratic performances leave the door open for a veteran-laden Warriors team to grab a sneaky victory here to end their road trip and head home for a little rest.
Consensus odds currently:
Minnesota -6 O/U 215