Timberwolves fall to Warriors 119-114 as Curry scores 44 in first game without Edwards

The Minnesota Timberwolves got their first look at life without Anthony Edwards on Wednesday night, and Stephen Curry made it a hard one. Curry scored 44 points, 16 of them at the free throw line, and Golden State held on for a 119-114 win at Target Center. Minnesota cut a lead that had reached 24 points down to four in the final two minutes before running out of time.

Edwards is out after arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. CBS Sports reported that the team is targeting December for his return. He had scored 47 points in Monday's overtime loss at Cleveland. ESPN reported that the Warriors used repeated high screens for Curry to pull Rudy Gobert away from the rim, and that Minnesota's back-line coverage broke down. Curry had 23 points and five 3-pointers by halftime. He scored 17 of them in about three minutes of the second quarter, a burst that turned a one-point game into a 13-point Golden State lead, according to SB Nation. The Warriors went to the break up 64-48.

The offense that has to carry Minnesota for the next several weeks had a rough night. LaMelo Ball shot 3-for-11 and finished with eight points and six turnovers. Gobert had one point, four rebounds and no blocks in a game where Golden State played traditional centers for only about 20 minutes. Former Warrior Jonathan Kuminga led the Wolves with 20 points on 7-for-15 shooting, including 3-for-5 from deep, with five assists and no turnovers. Jaden McDaniels added 19 points and eight rebounds, and Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 19 off the bench.

The comeback came late. Bones Hyland hit several 3s on the move to get Minnesota within 93-81 after three quarters. The Warriors were still up 11 with 2:16 left. Kuminga then converted a three-point play, and Ayo Dosunmu scored on a layup, hit a 3 and stripped Curry to make it a four-point game. De'Anthony Melton blocked Dosunmu at the rim, and McDaniels missed two 3-point tries to end it. Curry closed the game at the line, making all seven of his free throws in the last eight minutes, per ESPN. Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg added 26 points and eight rebounds for Golden State, which has won two straight after an 0-3 start.

What it means for Friday

The Timberwolves are now 3-2. They opened with three straight wins by a combined 70 points, beating Miami by 25, Orlando by 22 and Toronto by 23. The two losses since then came by a total of seven points: 127-125 at Cleveland and 119-114 against Golden State. The team itself has been competitive. The concern is how much of that was Edwards, who averaged 33.3 points over the first four games, according to Bleacher Report.

The LA Clippers come to Minneapolis on Friday for the second game of Minnesota's stretch without Edwards. Two things are worth watching. Ball needs to protect the ball better, and the Wolves need to find a way to keep Gobert involved. Without that, Minnesota is relying on Kuminga, McDaniels and the bench to make up the scoring. Wednesday's second half showed they can do that for a while, but against Golden State the run came too late.