MINNEAPOLIS — The Golden State Warriors walked into Target Center on Sunday and delivered a statement that reverberated around the league: a suffocating 111-85 demolition of the Minnesota Timberwolves that featured 20 steals and forced 25 Minnesota turnovers.
Stephen Curry poured in a team-high 26 points with seven assists and four steals. Anthony Edwards countered with a game-high 32 points and 11 rebounds, but committed eight costly turnovers in a night he’d rather forget.
What looked like just another regular-season win was actually something much bigger—a potential turning point for a Warriors team searching for answers. Here are the three biggest revelations from a game that felt like a rebirth for Golden State, tinged with a dose of heartbreak.
1. The New Starting Five Is Here to Stay—and It Changes Everything
Steve Kerr finally pulled the trigger on a move that had been whispered about for weeks: benching rookie Quinten Post and inserting veteran Al Horford into the starting lineup alongside Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Moses Moody, and Draymond Green.
The results were immediate and explosive.
Golden State raced to 14 of the game’s first 16 points. By the time the benches emptied, the Warriors already led 14-8. The same group opened the third quarter and turned a one-point edge into a comfortable nine-point cushion.
In roughly 11 combined minutes to start the first and third quarters, that lineup posted a jaw-dropping +14. For a Warriors team that has ranked near the bottom of the league in first-quarter performance all season, that’s not just improvement—that’s a lifeline.
Horford will sit Monday on the second night of a back-to-back, but the message is clear: when the roster is healthy, this is the group. The only other tweak worth debating is sliding De’Anthony Melton in for Podziemski, but Melton’s playmaking spark off the bench—reminiscent of what Jimmy Butler provided earlier in the season when healthy—is too valuable to lose. Keeping him with the second unit makes far more sense.
This gamble paid off in spectacular fashion. The Warriors just found their identity again.
2. When Steph Curry Locks In Defensively, the Entire Team Follows
At 37 years old and still shouldering one of the heaviest offensive loads in basketball, no one would blame Curry if his defensive intensity occasionally waned.
But when he decides to flip the switch, the effect is contagious—and Sunday night, he flipped it hard.
All four of Curry’s steals directly turned into nine Warriors points: a Moody transition three, a wide-open Moody layup, a Podziemski layup, and a Draymond Green tip-in. He spent significant minutes matched up on Jaden McDaniels—seven inches taller—and helped hold the Wolves forward to a miserable 1-of-8 shooting and just three points.
The steals kept coming: Podziemski added four, Will Richard chipped in three, Green and Gui Santos grabbed two each. Twenty total steals for the team. Yet it all traced back to Curry diving for loose balls and setting an unrelenting tone from the opening tip.
When the face of the franchise brings that kind of energy on defense, the rest of the roster has no choice but to match it. Sunday proved once again that Curry remains the heartbeat of this team—on both ends.
3. A Painful Reality: Gary Payton II’s Minutes Are No Longer Working
Even in a 26-point blowout, there’s one cloud hanging over the celebration.
Gary Payton II, the heart-and-soul defensive pest who helped deliver the 2022 championship, is struggling mightily right now. He finished minus-6 in Sunday’s laugher and was a staggering minus-32 in the recent loss to Dallas. His net rating (minus-9.5, per Cleaning the Glass) ranks second-worst on the entire roster.
No one wants to diminish what GPII has meant to this franchise. But the numbers—and the eye test—are telling a tough story. The minutes simply aren’t productive anymore.
The path forward is clear, even if it stings: shift those minutes to younger wings like Will Richard and Gui Santos, players with real upside who can still grow into larger roles. It’s a cold but necessary step for a team trying to extend its contention window.
Rebirth for the Warriors’ present and future. Heartbreak for a warrior who gave everything to the dynasty.
Sunday’s bombshell win wasn’t just 26 points on the scoreboard—it felt like the first real glimpse of what this Golden State team can still become.