Two teams battling to keep pace in the Western Conference playoff race meet when the Golden State Warriors face the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday in San Francisco.

Minnesota has slipped to sixth place in the crowded West standings after dropping three consecutive games, while fading Golden State has fallen under .500 for the first time in nearly three months.

March began on a high note for Minnesota, which briefly moved into third place in the West following a five-game winning streak. Since then, the Timberwolves have lost three in a row by an average of 22 points.

Minnesota struggled on the defensive end in a 153-128 road loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday. Kawhi Leonard scored 45 points to lead the Clippers, who shot 63.4% from the field and 51.4% (19 of 37) from 3-point range.

“Obviously, it’s not acceptable,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “They didn’t have a single quarter under 35 points. Not an acceptable defensive performance at all.”

Anthony Edwards led Minnesota against the Clippers with 36 points, while Naz Reid added 18. Julius Randle was held to 11 points on 3-of-10 shooting. The loss came one night after the Timberwolves’ 120-106 defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers.

“We’ve got to regroup. We’ve got to play both sides of the floor,” Finch said. “(On Tuesday) it was our offense, and (Wednesday) it was our defense. So we’ve got to put a complete game together, come back together. We know we’re a good team. Feels like we’re a million miles away from where we were a week ago, but we’re not.”

Golden State is likewise looking for answers after losing three straight. The short-handed Warriors followed up Monday’s road loss to the Utah Jazz with a 130-124 overtime defeat to the visiting Chicago Bulls on Tuesday.

“Both very winnable games,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “Had the lead late (Tuesday), obviously one we should’ve had. This is how the NBA is, especially when you’re beaten up. You’re not going to blow anybody out. Games are going to be tight. You’ve got to finish. We didn’t finish either of the last two nights.”

LJ Cryer, Gui Santos, Kristaps Porzingis and Pat Spencer each scored 17 points against the Bulls to lead Golden State, which played without Stephen Curry (knee), De’Anthony Melton (adductor), Moses Moody (wrist) and Quinten Post (foot).

Curry has missed the last 15 games and will be evaluated again on March 21. The Warriors are play-in tournament eligible while in ninth place in the West and have gone 5-10 during Curry’s absence.

“We’re at the point in the season where we’re fighting just to stay alive right now,” Spencer said. “The goal is to get into that seven/eight (play-in) game. I don’t think we’re going to put too much stress on each individual game. But we know how important every game is now down the stretch.”

With 17 games left in the regular season, Golden State will be leaning on young players such as guard Brandin Podziemski, who was limited to nine points on 3-of-8 shooting against Chicago.

The Warriors have lost two of three meetings against Minnesota this season, including a 108-83 road defeat on Jan. 26.

–Field Level Media