For most of the Golden State Warriors contest against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night, they were in control. They took a 14-point lead early in the fourth quarter, but the Timberwolves stormed back to send the game to overtime, and ended up walking away with a 119-114 win when the final buzzer sounded. A guy who had a huge role in this comeback win for Minnesota was center Naz Reid.
Reid brought his A-game on both offense (24 PTS, 13 REB, 4 AST, 10-22 FG) and defense, where he played a big role in limiting Draymond Green for most of the night. Minnesota upped the intensity in the second half, and the Warriors crumbled, and after the game, Reid revealed how the Timberwolves managed to keep Green quiet for most of the night, which ended up playing a huge role in this comeback win.
I asked Naz Reid if he meant to send a message by going at Draymond + Looney early:
"When we bring it to ‘em early, man, that just shows that we're not here to back down, we're really here to fight." pic.twitter.com/30VV5E9yUR
— Jack Borman (@jrborman13) February 2, 2023
Green was still effective in some ways (10 PTS, 12 REB, 4 AST, 5-10 FG) but he missed all three of his free throws and had a team-high five turnovers. Golden State has been rolling with Green as their small-ball center recently, and while it has had some success, Reid made sure that they would pay for implementing this lineup against the Timberwolves.
Naz Reid was a huge help for Minnesota in this one while filling in for Rudy Gobert, and for teams that are reportedly interested in making a move for him at the trade deadline, this strong performance should only whet their appetite. Reid figured out how to slow down Green and limit his impact, and it wouldn't be surprising if several teams across the league took notice of Reid's standout performance against the Warriors.
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