The Warriors (38-10) have won five of six and are fresh off a 123-112 win over the Knicks at home on Tuesday as they face the Timberwolves (31-19) for the second time this season. Golden State beat the T’Wolves in Oakland on Nov. 8 when Stephen Curry (28 points) and Klay Thompson (22) helped the Warriors overcome Kevin Durant’s absence.
There will be six current NBA All-Stars playing Thursday, and thanks to the draft between Curry and LeBron James, five of them will be teammates on Feb. 18 in Los Angeles. Curry selected teammates Draymond Green and Thompson, along with Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns and Jimmy Butler. Durant was picked first by James.
Butler, however, is questionable for Thursday’s game with a knee injury. He’s missed Minnesota’s last three games.
The T’Wolves are on a back-to-back, having lost 123-114 Wednesday to the Blazers. Towns had 16 points and nine rebounds in the loss.
The Warriors have another big showdown coming up on Saturday when they host the Celtics, who handed Golden State a contentious 92-88 defeat on Nov. 16.
Here are the projected starting lineups:
Warriors
C Zaza Pachulia
PF Draymond Green
SF Kevin Durant
SG Klay Thompson
PG Stephen Curry
Timberwolves
C Karl-Anthony Towns
PF Taj Gibson
SF Jimmy Butler
SG Andrew Wiggins
PG Jeff Teague
