Warriors Squeak By Wolves

The Minnesota Timberwolves traded away point guard Stephon Marbury on Thursday, and spent the rest of the night searching for their missing offense.

Donyell Marshall and Chris Mills had 14 points each and the Warriors had four other players in double figures as Golden State got its seventh straight home win by defeating the Marbury-less Timberwolves 89-82.

The 82 points tied for the second-lowest output of the season for the Timberwolves, who traded Marbury to the New Jersey Nets in a nine-player, three-team deal hours before the game.

"He was a major piece of the puzzle, so right now we need to regroup," said Kevin Garnett, who had 22 points to lead Minnesota. "We have to slow the ball down and find the chemistry out there."

Bobby Jackson played most of the game at the point for the Wolves, who will get point guard Terrell Brandon from Milwaukee as part of the deal. Jackson had 15 points, eight assists and seven rebounds in 39 minutes.

"The first quarter I was rusty on some things, throwing the ball away on some fast breaks," said Jackson, who played point guard last season for Denver. "I was kind of frustrated I threw those away."

The Warriors tied for their second-best defensive showing of the season, holding the Timberwolves to 33 percent shooting.

"We had a horrible first quarter and didn't contest any shots. And then we defended for three quarters," said Warriors coach P.J. Carlesimo. "Donyell did as good a job as you can do against Kevin Garnett."

Marshall said Garnett did a lot of trash talking before the game, telling the Warriors forward how he planned to "use and abuse" him.

"I wasn't going to let him come in here and talk to me like that," Marshall said."It got me wound up."

The game was tied 39-39 at halftime. Golden State took an ight-point lead midway through the third period, and led 63-61 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Warriors built their lead to nine points by holding Minnesota to no baskets and just four points in the opening 6:25 of the fourth period.

The Timberwolves pulled back within 78-75 with 3:52 remaining on a 3-pointer by Anthony Peeler. But Chris Mills hit two straight jumpers to give the Warriors a seven-point margin with 2:34 left.

The closest the Timberwolves got after that was when they pulled to 84-80 on a 3-pointer by Jackson with 25 seconds left.

Minnesota's Joe Smith had 11 points to lead all scorers in the first half, but neither team shot well: the Wolves hit just 35 percent of their shots, and the Warriors hit 28 percent in the half.

Notes: Golden State won for just the second time in its last 10 games against the Timberwolves. ... Minnesota had been 7-0 this season when holding an opponent below 90 points. ... The Timberwolves had only 10 players available after making the three-team deal that included Marbury. And that number dropped to nine when Malik Sealy sprained his left ankle late in the first quarter. ... Muggsy Bogues (bruised right knee) and Jason Caffey (tendinitis in right ankle) missed the game for Golden State. ... The game was the first of three consecutive contests for the Warriors. It's the first time since 1984 Golden State has played on three straight days.

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