No love lost as Warriors, Wolves bare teeth

SAN FRANCISCO — Draymond Green was ejected after putting Rudy Gobert in a headlock and two other players were thrown out after an altercation early in the Minnesota Timberwolves' 104-101 win over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.

"Not much to say," Gobert said. "That's just clown behavior."

The game was still scoreless and not even two minutes had elapsed when Golden State's Klay Thompson and Minnesota's Jaden McDaniels got in a shoving match near midcourt following a Timberwolves possession. Gobert stepped in and grabbed hold of Thompson before Green rushed in and pulled Gobert away from behind with his arm around the center's neck.

Thompson's jersey was ripped during the scuffle, which led to Green's second ejection of the season and two free throws for Gobert.

Golden State coach Steve Kerr said McDaniels instigated the altercation and Thompson should not have been ejected.

"He's running up the floor, and the guy grabs his jersey, and he's pulling on him. So Klay pulls back," Kerr said. "No way that Klay should have been ejected. That was ridiculous."

McDaniels and Thompson initially collided after a missed Minnesota shot, when the Wolves forward was going in for the rebound. McDaniels said he was "just trying to defend myself" when Thompson grabbed at his collar.

There was some early aggression between the teams, but McDaniels did not anticipate the tension would boil over.

"There was some chitter-chatter going back and forth, but I wasn't taking it serious," McDaniels said. "I was laughing. And then I guess it was just a bigger deal to him."

Thompson and Green were not available for comment after the game.

After the fracas began, Gobert said he got involved to "de-escalate the situation." When Green grabbed him, Gobert threw up his hands to avoid making matters worse.

"My first thought was just, 'I'm not going to fight. I need to be in this game to help my team,'" Gobert said. "I just showed the ref that I had my hands up, and I just waited until the situation was over. Nothing more than that. It wasn't a good enough choke to put me to sleep."

Crew chief Tyler Ford told a pool reporter that Gobert was considered a "peacemaker" and thus was not ejected for his involvement.

"I thought the ejections were the right ones," Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. "I thought they were warranted. I thought (the refs) did a good job of getting control of the game from that point of view. The game was very physical, but it wasn't a very dangerous and out-of-control game."

While Gobert said he did not feel unsafe during the scuffle, he expects the NBA to punish Green for his actions. "I do hope that the league is going to do what needs to be done," he said.

Towns on top

Karl-Anthony Towns scored 11 of his game-high 33 points in the fourth quarter while Mike Conley buried a lead-extending 3-pointer with 9.6 seconds remaining so seal the win for Minnesota.

The victory not only was the Timberwolves' second in three days against the Warriors, but also improved them to 2-0 in the West Group C of the in-season tournament. Golden State fell to 1-1.

Already without Stephen Curry, who sat out with a sore right knee, the Warriors went up 98-96 on a 3-pointer by Dario Saric with 2:05 to go before Minnesota tightened the defensive clamps.

Golden State didn't score again until just 2.1 seconds were left, a stretch during which Towns gave Minnesota the lead for good on a 3-pointer with 1:07 to go before Conley sealed the win with his 3-pointer that gave the Wolves a 102-98 advantage in the final seconds.

Team China player Kyle Anderson, whose offensive rebound led to Towns' late 3-pointer, iced Minnesota's seventh straight triumph with two free throws with four seconds left.

Wemby's off night

Elsewhere, Oklahoma City beat San Antonio in a much-anticipated match-up between two of the NBA's top rookies, Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren.

There isn't much of a rivalry between the slender 7-footers, and Wembanyama said he wasn't aware he was even being compared to Holmgren.

"Every prospect is compared to everyone," the 19-year-old from France said.

They rarely matched up 1-on-1 on Tuesday, and both had off nights. Wembanyama finished with eight points on 4-for-15 shooting, grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked two shots in the Spurs' 123-87 loss.

Holmgren finished with nine points on 3-for-10 shooting and had seven rebounds and three assists.

Wembanyama, the No 1 pick in this year's draft, entered the night averaging 19.7 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks. Holmgren, the No 2 pick in the 2022 draft, missed last season due to a foot injury but has recovered in grand style. He was averaging 16.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.3 blocks before Tuesday while shooting 55 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range.

Agencies