Curry wows with 39 in return, but defense fails Warriors

SAN FRANCISCO — After missing two weeks and five games because of a quad injury, Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry needed only 32 minutes to score 39 points in his return Friday night.

But Curry’s loud, productive reappearance didn’t set this shaky Warriors’ season back on course. Golden State lost 127-120 to the Minnesota Timberwolves, who were missing Anthony Edwards. The Warriors gave up 39 fourth-quarter points to watch their record tumble to 13-13.

“Our defense let us down tonight,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.

Without Curry, the Warriors held four of their previous five opponents below 100 points and won three of those games. They entered Friday night with the third-best defensive rating in the NBA.

But Draymond Green has been away from the team this week because of personal reasons, and Al Horford remains out because of sciatica, leaving the Warriors vulnerable on the interior. Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle combined for 51 points and 23 rebounds for the Timberwolves on Friday.

“Draymond and Al understand how to make their impact, make their presence felt,” Curry said. “But we didn’t have them. We had to figure out a way to get it done. We just didn’t.”

The Warriors’ biggest problem has been their inefficient offense. They rank 22nd in the NBA in offensive rating. They have several issues to solve, but a fresh and available Curry is a major boost.

In his first game back, Curry scored 10 points in his first eight-minute stint, attempting six quick shots. The Warriors didn’t have Curry travel with the team during its recent three-game road trip, believing a weekend of treatment and then a Wednesday night scrimmage would jump-start his conditioning for a Friday return.

“He looked great,” Kerr said. “Just the movement, the flow. I asked him how he was feeling after the first eight-minute run in the first quarter, and he said, ‘I feel great.'”

Curry took 28 shots in 32 minutes, and after the Warriors trailed by double digits in the fourth quarter, he pulled them back with three 3s and 14 fourth-quarter points.

“Started to feel normal again,” Curry said. “So individually, it was a good first game back just to get my lungs back and feel like myself.”

But it wasn’t a great night for his team. A win would’ve pulled the Warriors within 1½ games of the Timberwolves at the sixth spot in the West. The loss pushes Golden State to 3½ games back, missing another opportunity to generate momentum against a team without its best player.