MINNEAPOLIS _ Until Sunday, the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors were 13-1 in games following a loss.
Make that 13-2 now after the Timberwolves defeated them 109-103 in a Sunday matinee televised nationally on ABC.
Wolves center Karl-Anthony Towns' 31-point, 16-rebound performed outdid Warriors star Kevin Durant's 39-point, 12-rebound afternoon, particularly after Towns scored six consecutive points for his team in the game's final three minutes while Durant's shooting went uncharacteristically cold.
The Warriors played their second consecutive game _ well, their third if count Thursday's home victory over San Antonio _ without superstar shooter Stephen Curry, who played just two minutes against the Spurs after he injured his right ankle for the fourth time this season.
They lost 125-108 at Portland on Friday despite Durant's 40-point game and followed with a consecutive loss for only the eighth time in the Steve Kerr era.
Leading 90-89 with 8 { minutes left, the Wolves scored nine of the next 12 points to take a 99-92 lead with 5:52 left.
They started that 9-3 run with Towns' layup off an Andrew Wiggins pass and then finished it with Towns' 3-pointer.
In between, Wolves forward Nemanja Bjelica blocked a shot at one end of the floor and then finished off the possession with a reverse layup after Towns saved the play by whipping the ball far ahead to Gibson before Towns fell out of bounds under the defensive basket.
When Durant made two free throws to bring the Warriors within 102-100 with 2:40 left, Towns responded when he faked a shot and then drove for a running one-handed shot that put the Wolves ahead by four points again.
Durant's fifth three-point of the game made it 104-103, but Towns scored with a turnaround baseline jumper and the Wolves led 106-103 with 1:08 left.
When Durant missed a 3-pointer, Towns followed his own missed shot for a score and it was 108-103 with 55 seconds left.
Bjelica's block of a shot by Warriors guard Quinn Cook with 29 seconds left kept Golden State away and then Durant missed a reverse in the final seconds.
Sunday's game featured the Timberwolves' debut of newly signed guard Derrick Rose, who played 6 { minutes in the first half paired with fellow point guard Tyus Jones.
He then did not play against after his team went from an 11-point lead to six-point deficit when he was on the floor while Jones played on as he regularly does in the second half.
Jones scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to turn a tied score into an 88-84 lead that the Wolves never gave up.
The Wolves led by 11 points in first quarter, trailed by 12 in the second quarter and still trailed by six points midway through the third quarter before they fought back to even at 84-84 by third quarter's end.
