SAN FRANCISCO — Karl-Anthony Towns hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 11 seconds to play after Kyle Anderson stole a pass by Draymond Green, and the Minnesota Timberwolves held off the Golden State Warriors 99-96 on Sunday night to keep things interesting in the wild Western Conference playoff standings.
Jordan Poole gave Golden State the lead on a 3-pointer with 1:28 left, moments after Towns had connected from deep. Poole, who had a game-high 27 points, then secured a rebound on the other end.
The Warriors had a chance with 9.9 seconds left but Stephen Curry couldn't corral Poole's errant pass, then Curry missed a contested 3 from the baseline just before the final buzzer.
Towns had 14 points and five rebounds in his second outing following a 52-game absence with a strained right calf. He returned Wednesday against Atlanta.
Green fouled Rudy Gobert with 27.7 seconds left to save a likely dunk, and Gobert missed the first of his two free throws. Green went down hard taking a charge from the 7-foot-1 Gobert earlier in the quarter.
The Warriors had their nine-game home winning streak snapped and missed a chance to boost their playoff positioning. A victory also would have clinched Sacramento's first postseason berth since 2006. The Kings, coached by former Golden State top assistant Mike Brown, will try to end the longest playoff drought in NBA history Monday night at home against Minnesota.
Naz Reid hit a baseline 3-pointer with 6:12 remaining, followed by a layup. He scored 23 points off the bench to lead Minnesota, which snapped a 12-game skid on the Warriors' home floor.
Anderson contributed 12 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.
Curry tied it at 61 with 5:35 left in the third only for Minnesota to make a great play moments later: Nickeil Alexander-Walker lunged for a diving save across the half-court line to save a backcourt violation and flicked the ball to Anderson for a 40-foot 3 to beat the shot clock at the 5:07 mark.
Poole's 3 just before the third-quarter buzzer got Golden State within 77-73 going into the fourth.
Gobert grabbed 18 rebounds to go with 10 points for the Timberwolves in their third straight victory following a three-game losing streak.
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