NBA 11/13/2023 Golden State Warriors vs Timberwolves

 The marquee matchup of Sunday’s NBA slate sees the fifth-place Golden State Warriors hosting the third-place Minnesota Timberwolves. This is the first of a scheduled doubleheader between these two teams who will meet again in two days. Golden State will be looking to put an end to a two game losing streak following their 118-110 loss to the Cavaliers on home court yesterday. The defeat dropped the Dubs down to 6-4 on the year but still has them fifth in the standings. The hosts will have to deal with playing the second of a back-to-back, although the situation is made much easier with the Warriors being at home. Golden State has struggled with their three-point shooting in recent games, a rare occurrence for this squad. They rank seventh-worst in the NBA over the last three games with just 31.6% of their shots from downtown dropping.

The Timberwolves have been on the opposite side of the coin and are playing some of the best basketball in the league. A 117-110 win over the San Antonio Spurs marked their first away win of the season and pushed their winning streak to five games. Minnesota has now moved up to 6-2 on the year which has them sitting third in the conference and trailing leaders Denver by 1.5 games. The defense has been the star of the show in Minnesota with three-time defensive player of the year Rudy Gobert leading the way. The Timberwolves rank first in adjusted defensive rating and are holding opponents to a league-low 48.3% effective field goal percentage. While their start has certainly been impressive, the majority of their games have come at home. The visitors have lost two of their previous three away games, falling to the Hawks and the Raptors.

Match prediction: GSW to win