Warriors' defense tightens up in final minutes in win over Wolves

Stephen Curry, Buddy Hield and Jonathan Kuminga combined for 77 points, Gary Payton II made two big defensive plays and the Golden State Warriors held the Minnesota Timberwolves scoreless over the final 4:46 of a 114-106 victory on Sunday night in San Francisco.

Curry finished with a game-high 30 points, Hield went for 27 and Kuminga added 20 for the Warriors, who avenged a 107-90 loss to the Timberwolves on Friday with just the second win in their past eight games.

After each team held double-digit leads over the course of the contest, the Timberwolves used a 3-pointer from Anthony Edwards to go up 106-105 with 4:47 remaining in the fourth quarter. But Minnesota didn't score again, missing its final nine shots from the field and a pair of free throws.

Kuminga gave the hosts the lead for good on a dunk off a Curry assist with 2:55 left.

Edwards then missed consecutive 3-pointers, the first of which could have put Minnesota back on top, and the second, following two Curry free throws, could have forged a tie.

Down 109-106, the Timberwolves had two other possessions to cut the deficit or tie the game, but Payton put his defensive brilliance on full display, blocking a Nickeil Alexander-Walker layup before stealing an Edwards pass.

Hield doubled the margin, making it 112-106 with a 3-pointer with 57.7 seconds remaining, and Draymond Green capped the scoring with a dunk with 28.3 seconds to go.

Edwards contributed six misses to the Timberwolves' 0-for-9 finish. He still led Minnesota with 27 points to go along with a team-high six assists.

Alexander-Walker had 19 points off the bench for Minnesota, which saw a four-game winning streak come to an end. Julius Randle (14 points), who completed a double-double with a game-high 11 rebounds, Mike Conley (12) and Naz Reid (10) also scored in double figures for the visitors.

Complementing a game-high eight assists, Curry did half of his scoring on a 5-for-11 showing from deep, while a majority of Hield's point total came on 7-for-13 shooting from beyond the arc.

Kevon Looney contributed 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds to the win, which was Golden State's first in its past six meetings with the Timberwolves.

--Field Level Media