In some ways, the Warriors didn't seem to miss Bogut a whole lot. Normally a poor rebounding team, they held their won against Minnesota, even without their leading big man. They outrebounded Minnesota 51-42, and scored more points in the paint. On the other hand, Golden State's interior defense was feeble at times. Light-scoring center Gorgui Dieng wound up with 14 points, and many of Corey Brewer's 22 points came on slams.
Another possible ramification of Bogut's absence: Without his presence in the paint, several Warriors found themselves in foul trouble. David Lee picked up his fifth with 3:10 to play, and Klay Thompson and Draymond Green both had four at that point, though all of them managed to stay on the court.
The playoffs will be a different matter altogether. The Clippers have one of the best centers in the game in DeAndre Jordan.
The Warriors came out lifeless and trailed by as many as 19 points in the second quarter. Asked whether his team was affected by the bad news regarded Bogut, Jackson said: "No, that was just bad. I wish I could paint a picture with something else. With all due respect to Boges and Andre (Iguodala, who got a night off), they're great players but they're not that great. Meaning, we played awful."
The Warriors stormed back to make it a game behind the red-hot shooting of Curry, who traded baskets with Minnesota's Kevin Love.
"I don't get in that one-on-one matchup situation," Curry said. "I'm trying to do whatever I can to help my team win. We're down 16-2, you've kind of got to put the gas pedal on. I was trying to make plays. . . . Obviously, I wasn't the one guarding him."
Golden State trailed 64-62 at halftime, but took the lead for good in the third quarter on a basket by Green, who made it 87-86 by taking a pass from Harrison Barnes and spinning the ball around the rim. Thompson helped push the lead to 97-92 by the end of the quarter, hitting four free throws in the final minute.
Jermaine O'Neal started in place of Bogut, and Warriors got 16 minutes from backup Marreese Speights. Barnes got a little time in the post, too.
Curry did most of the scoring before halftime but cooled off in the second half. He had some teammates to pick up the slack. Lee wound up with 25 points on 12-of-14 shooting, Thompson added 20 and Green had a big night, with 20 points and 12 rebounds -#8212; both career highs for the second-year player.
Love wound up scoring 40 points and grabbing 14 rebounds for the Timberwolves.
Jackson hinted it's likely he will rest of his players for the regular-season finale at Denver on Wednesday, but Green insisted no one would be taking a proverbial breath.
"No. We're trying to win 51," he said. "No need to take a breath."
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