You know the Golden State Warriors' traveling show is in town because autograph-seeking fans early Monday morning started lining up on the sidewalk outside the team's hotel across Target Center.
Fans line up early to see Curry, Warriors' traveling show tonight
The 62-7 Golden State Warriors -- aimed at the Chicago Bulls' record of 72 wins in a season -- are in town to play the Wolves, trying to avoid their first losing "streak" of the season.
March 22, 2016 at 1:43AM
That's what happens when you're 62-7 and aimed at surpassing the Chicago Bulls' record 72-10 season from two decades ago. At shootaround this morning, Warriors coach Steve Kerr admitted there's some similarities between the crowds those Bulls team (on which Kerr played) attracted and the ones his team now draws.
But the Warriors' 87-79 loss Saturday at San Antonio -- the one in which the Spurs' defense forced superstar Stephen Curry into a rare 4-for-18 shooting night -- reminds that they're still human after all.
No NBA team has gone an entire season without losing two games consecutively. The 1984-95 Boston Celtics came the closest, going 74 games that season before doing so.
Both the Warriors and San Antonio have gone 69 games so far without losing consecutive games.
"We haven't lost two in a row all year, which is a remarkable stat," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "It has never been done before in NBA history, to go through an entire season, and it's probably the thing I'm most proud of with this group, how they've responded from losses. Whether it's being refocused or being angry and just being competitive, we've always responded well. Hopefully, we will again tonight."
The Wolves probably would be better off if the Warriors hadn't arrived at Target Center angry or refocused or competitive or whatever you want to call it.
"It's not (easy)," Wolves guard Ricky Rubio said about the prospect of playing the Warriors after a loss. "But we have confidence. We've been playing better lately and we have to focus on our game."
If you're coming to tonight's game -- the Warriors' second and last appearnace this season -- get there early to see Curry's pre-game shooting routine, which has become a show in itself, something Kerr likened to Barry Bonds taking batting practice back in the day.
"We've been pretty resilient, finding energy the next game and finding the will to win," Curry said at his team's morning shootaround about playing the next game after a loss. "We're trying to keep that trend going tonight. Obviously, it's a talented Minnesota team that has a lot of firepower. Hopefully we have a good start to the game and we're ready to go."
A couple other things:
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* The Wolves today launced their publicity campaign touting Karl-Anthony Towns for Rookie of the Year. The gimmmick: KAT Cab, a play off the Cash Cab TV show. You can see it all at KATCab.net.
"It was very fun," Towns said about his role in the campaign. "I actually love the show. It's something I've watched a lot."
* Towns on his trip with Tayshaun Prince Saturday to watch their University of Kentucky lose to Indiana in the NCAA tournament: "You know what? I had a blast. Never in my career until have I had the chance to be a fan."
The Timberwolves turned on their defense and turned a deficit into a comfortable winning margin over the course of about five crucial minutes.
