At 0:09, Jaden McDaniels missed a second 3-pointer in the same late sequence, and Yaxel Lendeborg came down with the rebound. Golden State had already surrendered one offensive rebound on the possession. The Warriors needed that second miss to stay a miss, and Lendeborg’s hands finally made sure of it.
That was the right closing image for a 119-114 Golden State victory over Minnesota on Wednesday: productive, tense and far less tidy than the score might suggest. Lendeborg scored 26 points and grabbed nine rebounds, but he also committed seven turnovers. His night contained both the production needed to build a lead and the mistakes that helped make the final minutes uncomfortable.
The seven turnovers were a substantial cost. His fourth quarter included an offensive charge at 7:23, and the total reached seven with another turnover at 5:53. It still mattered.
Golden State finished with 17 turnovers as a team, while Minnesota stayed close enough late to punish another loose possession. Lendeborg’s contribution was complicated precisely because the Warriors needed his offense while absorbing the cost of giving him so much responsibility.
His biggest offensive play arrived with 2:16 left. Stephen Curry delivered the assist, and Lendeborg finished the running dunk to put Golden State ahead 115-104. It was one of Curry’s six assists and one of Lendeborg’s key baskets, though not the shot that completed his 26-point line.
Minnesota had begun trimming the margin after Curry returned to a 107-96 game, and the connection restored some room at a moment when the Warriors needed a clean possession.
Curry carried the larger scoring burden with 44 points, eight rebounds and six assists. The performance was hardly effortless: he shot 11-for-27 overall and 6-for-16 from 3-point range. His 16-for-16 work at the foul line proved more dependable, especially because his final two attempts came after Minnesota fouled him at the horn.
Curry’s finger roll at 2:30 made it 42 points; the two free throws at the finish supplied the last two.
The late partnership worked, but Golden State did not glide to the finish. Curry’s finger roll made it 113-104, and Lendeborg’s dunk followed to push the lead back to 11. Minnesota kept answering.
Ayo Dosunmu’s 3-pointer at 0:32 cut the deficit to 116-112. Curry’s turnover came afterward, at 0:24, but it did not lead directly to another long-range shot. DeAnthony Melton blocked Dosunmu’s running layup at 0:18, and Draymond Green secured the rebound.
