THE GOLDEN STATE Warriors’ bid to break the Chicago Bulls’ regular season record suffered a setback last night as they crashed to a shock overtime defeat against Minnesota.
The Warriors, chasing the legendary 1995-1996 Bulls team’s mark of 72 victories, slumped to a 124-117 reverse against the Timberwolves, who have the third worst record in the Western Conference.
The Warriors’ defeat means they must now win all four of their remaining games — which include two meetings with the second-ranked San Antonio Spurs — to get to 73 victories.
The Warriors had looked to be cruising to a straightforward win after accelerating into a 17-point lead in the second half.
But Minnesota rallied superbly and a 35-point haul from Shabazz Muhammad — the best of his career — and 32 points from Andrew Wiggins inspired a fightback which left the Golden State home crowd in stunned silence.
Warriors talisman Steph Curry struggled to find his range all night, finishing with 21 points but making only four of 14 three-point attempts as Golden State tumbled to their second home defeat in the space of three games after last Friday’s loss to Boston.
A disappointed Curry rejected suggestions the drive for the record was weighing on the reigning NBA champions.
“I don’t think so,” Curry said. “We’ve put ourselves in a position that it’s a realistic goal and we’ve got to embrace the challenge.
“It’s obviously not easy to get it done — we’re proving that right now. But I don’t think it’s anything that’s weighing us down on the floor or anything like that.
“We just haven’t played well in two of the last three home games. It’s amplified now because we’re so close to the goal.”
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