MINNEAPOLIS _ In the end, the Timberwolves caught a break.
After squandering leads both at the end of regulation and in overtime, the Wolves got a call and a win.
Trying to inbound the ball with 0.5 seconds left after Stephen Curry's 3 had tied the game, Karl-Anthony Towns was fouled on the play. He went to the line and made one of two free throws with that half-second still remaining to give the Wolves a 131-130 victory over the defending champion Golden State Warriors in front of a sellout crowd at Target Center on Friday night.
It was a great end to a difficult night for Towns, who scored 15 points, but was held to 5-for-17 shooting.
But none of that mattered after the Wolves (34-41) won for the second time in three games.
Contributions ran up and down the Wolves roster, with Andrew Wiggins scoring 24, Josh Okogie 21 and three players _ Jerryd Bayless (17), Anthony Tolliver (14) and Gorgui Dieng (14) scoring in double figures off the bench.
Curry had 37 for the Warriors (51-24), who also got 23 points from Kevin Durant and 20 from Klay Thompson.
But it took work. A nine-point fourth-quarter lead for the Wolves melted away down the stretch when Draymond Green hit two free throws late in regulation to force the overtime. The Wolves built a nine-point lead in overtime on Okogie's trey with 2:03 left. But a second overtime appeared to loom when Curry, guarded by Bayless in the corner, hit a 3-pointer _ his 11th of the night _ with 0.5 seconds left to tie the game at 130.
But out of a couple timeouts, Durant was called for holding Towns on the in-bounds. Towns hit the first of two free throws, missing the second, and the final half-second ticked away.
It was looking like a Golden State runaway, with the Warriors up 19 points early in the third quarter.
But the Wolves kicked it into gear. Getting huge production from the bench, the Wolves ended the third quarter on a 32-13 run to pull into a tie entering the fourth quarter.
Then Minnesota started the fourth quarter on an 18-9 run, with Bayless scoring 11 of those points. The Wolves grew their lead to a game-high nine points, going up 106-97 on Bayless's drive to the hoop with 5:13 left in the game.
Then the Wolves went cold and the Warriors warmed up, finishing off regulation on an 18-9 run.
The Wolves were up 113-106 on Okogie's dunk with 2:27 left. But the Warriors promptly went on a 9-2 run to draw into a tie when Green made one of two free throws with 21.8 seconds left.
Out of a timeout Wiggins missed. The Wolves got the rebound and Wiggins got another look at it, but missed, forcing overtime.
Again the Wolves built a nine-point lead, getting 3-pointers from Tolliver, Bayless and Okogie, whose corner 3 put the Wolves up 128-119 with 2:03 left.
But Curry hit a 3. Moments later he hit another, drawing the Warriors within three. Bayless hit one of two free throws, then Green scored on a put-back. Okogie hit one of two free throws with 6.1 seconds left. The out of a timeout, Curry took an in-bounds pass, paused, and calmly hit his corner 3 to tie the game at 130.
