Stephen Curry scores 44 as Warriors hold off Timberwolves 119-114

At 38 years old, Stephen Curry is still doing things on a basketball court that nobody else can. The latest example came on Wednesday night in Minneapolis, where Curry scored 44 points — including a 17-point flurry in six minutes, capped by a heat-check 31-footer — as the Golden State Warriors held off the Minnesota Timberwolves 119-114.

The Warriors needed every last one of them. Golden State led by 24 in the second half, still led by 11 with 2:16 to play, and still barely hung on against a Timberwolves team playing its first game without Anthony Edwards, who will miss up to two months after arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.

Curry finished 11 of 27 from the field with six three-pointers, grabbed eight rebounds, handed out six assists, and went a perfect 16 of 16 from the free-throw line, stretching his perfect start to the season from the stripe to 39 consecutive makes. It was his first 40-point game of the season, and his 15th since turning 35 — tying LeBron James for the most 40-point games past that age in NBA history.

A slow start, then a flurry

Nothing about the opening minutes suggested what was coming. Curry started 2 of 8 from the field, and the Warriors looked like a team still searching for itself after an 0-3 start to the season. Then, about three minutes into the second quarter, he pulled up and connected on his first three-pointer — and the game changed.

Curry poured in 19 points as Golden State built a 64-48 halftime lead, finishing the half with 23. The flurry that defined the night came in a six-minute stretch: 17 points, shot after shot, until the 31-footer that found the bottom of the net and brought the Target Center crowd to its feet even as it silenced most of it.

"I just see him doing what Steph Curry does," head coach Steve Kerr said after the game.

The second half followed the pattern of Golden State's young season: a big lead, then a wobble. The Warriors widened their advantage to 78-54 midway through the third quarter, but when Curry went to the bench, Minnesota began to chip away. By the start of the fourth quarter the lead was down to 12, at 93-81, and the Timberwolves kept coming.

The finishing problem

Golden State has now held double-digit fourth-quarter leads three times in five games — and not closed any of them comfortably. On Wednesday, Minnesota cut a 24-point second-half deficit to four before the Warriors finally steadied themselves, with Curry returning to the line for two of his 16 free throws to help close the game out.

"We didn't do a good job closing," Kerr admitted. In his eyes, though, the win still counted as progress. The Warriors have now won two in a row after their winless start, improving to 2-3, and they did it on a night when their best player had to be at his best just to survive a team missing its own star.

Edwards' absence hung over the game. Minnesota's first outing since learning their franchise player needs knee surgery was always going to be an emotional one, and the Timberwolves played like it in the second half, feeding off a home crowd that refused to let the game die. That they got within four points of a team led by a 44-point Curry says something about their resolve — and something about Golden State's inability, so far, to put teams away.

What it means

For Curry, the history is the headline. Fifteen 40-point games since turning 35 puts him level with James, the player whose longevity has set the standard for an entire generation. Curry did it at 38, in his 17th season, on a night when his team needed all 44 points and all 16 free throws.

For the Warriors, the win is a second straight step in the right direction — but the pattern underneath it is the story Kerr will worry about. A team that leads by 24 and wins by five has a closing problem, and the schedule offers no soft landing: Golden State host the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday in NBA Cup play.

For Minnesota, there is a different kind of encouragement. Without Edwards for up to two months, they will need nights like this second half from the rest of the roster — the fightback, the belief, the refusal to fold when the game looked gone. On Wednesday, that was not quite enough against a 44-point Curry. On most nights, it might be.