Golden State's start looks worse on paper than it was on the floor, but only a little. The Warriors got blown out by the Lakers, gave up a late lead to Memphis in the home opener, and then sat Curry, Draymond Green and Brandin Podziemski the next night in Phoenix and lost by 9. Three games in, they ranked 28th in defensive rating at 123.1 points allowed per 100 possessions. That's the number that should worry them, more than the record.
The Warriors still had a stop in Denver on Monday before coming to Target Center, so their record and their health could both look different by Wednesday. Steve Kerr sounded defiant after Phoenix. Golden State hasn't opened 0-4 since Curry was playing at Davidson, and the trip to the Nuggets decided whether that was still on the table. Whatever happened in Denver, Wednesday is the 2nd game of a road trip, with a travel day in between.
The injury list is where Golden State's real problem shows. Jimmy Butler is still working back from a torn ACL with a January-to-February window. Moses Moody's patellar tendon puts him somewhere around December or January. Kristaps Porzingis is out and, according to Shams Charania, contemplating his future in basketball because of recurring POTS symptoms. That's a lot of size and wing defense missing against a team whose best stretch has come from turning stops into Ball-to-Edwards in transition. Minnesota's only absence is Donte DiVincenzo, who is out with an Achilles injury.
Tipoff is 7:00 PM CT. Golden State's path is pretty clear. Curry and Green need to play heavy minutes on full rest, and the Warriors need to make Ball pay for his loose handle, which Cleveland just showed can be done. Minnesota's path is clear too: keep winning the glass with Gobert and don't let a team that can't defend turn the game into a shootout.