Getty D'Angelo Russell of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors.
The Golden State Warriors were just starting to put things together, but it all fell apart on February 2. They suffered a brutal overtime loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves by a score of 119-114, a game in which they were up by as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter.
After the game, former Warriors and current Timberwolves point guard D’Angelo Russell gave credit to big man Naz Reid, discussing how he made life difficult for the Warriors and, more specifically, Draymond Green.
“Huge, huge, huge,” Russell said via Bally Sports North when asked about Reid’s impact. “Not even scoring, he was just committed to whatever it took to win. All the winning plays. He was scraping up defensive rebounds, and he was boxing out. He was attacking Draymond, guys like that. He was making it hard for him.”
With Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert both sidelined, Reid got the start for Minnesota, and he delivered in a big way. The 23-year-old big man played 35:20, dropping 24 points, 13 rebounds, and four assists on 10-of-22 shooting from the field and 2-of-8 shooting from deep.
Not pictured in the stats was Reid’s came-clinching play near the end of overtime. He missed a three-point shot, but the ball came back to him for a rebound. Reid then drove to the paint, slamming it down for a monster jam and putting the Timberwolves up by five points with just over eight seconds left to go in the game.
As for Russell, the point guard put up some solid stats of his own. Russell poured in a team-high 29 points to go along with two rebounds and two assists. He shot 11-of-23 from the floor and 7-of-17 from beyond the three-point arc.
Warriors Trade Deadline Plans Hinge on Results
As the February 9 trade deadline approaches, the Warriors will have some tough decisions to make. And with their ugly loss to the Timberwolves, some things may have actually become clearer because, according to Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area, the results of Golden State’s games against the Timberwolves (February 1) and the Denver Nuggets (February 2) will decide what they end up doing.
“It is believed that the next two games, Wednesday night at Minnesota and Thursday night at Denver, will have some influence on how aggressively the Warriors proceed approaching the Feb. 9 NBA trade deadline,” Poole explained.
Warriors Urged to Trade James Wiseman
And with the deadline right around the corner, Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report believes the Warriors should trade young big man James Wiseman.
“Here’s the list of Golden State Warriors who are making more money than James Wiseman this season: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green.
“Here’s the list of Warriors who have contributed more win shares than Wiseman: Actually, for time constraints, I’ll spare you the full list and just let you know it’s 12 players long.
“This isn’t working. No matter how Golden State feels about his development, it clearly doesn’t trust him to contribute. And with Curry still in the heart of an all-time prime, the Warriors should be solely focused on right now. They have the top-level talent to compete for a title, but they have to fix the supporting cast. Sacrificing Wiseman’s potential for present production is a no-brainer,” Buckley wrote.