What to watch for: Warriors at Timberwolves

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The Warriors begin their longest road trip of the season onFriday night in Minneapolis, and they couldnt have asked for more good fortuneto start things.Minnesota will be without a bunch of players, includingKevin Love, Ricky Rubio, Brandon Roy, Chase Budinger, Nikola Pekovic and J.J.Barea. Thats four starters and starters and two key contributors off thebench.After playing at Minnesota, the Warriors have a back-to-backagainst Oklahoma City on Sunday and the Dallas Mavericks on Monday.Here are some things to watch for during theWarriors-Timberwolves game:Break the seal: On the positive side, theWarriors are 4-4 despite key players not starting the season well. StephenCurry, Klay Thompson and David Lee are all struggling from the field this year -- and yet the Warriors have been able to tread water.How much longer the Warriors will be able to be successfulwith that trio struggling isnt the kind of question coach Mark Jackson wantsto answer.Hed certainly like each of those players to come out oftheir shooting slumps against the Timberwolves, and take those hot hands intoOKC and Dallas.Through eight games this season, David Lee is shooting 43percent, Stephen Curry is shooting 37 percent and Klay Thompson is shooting 36percent.Jump out early: This game would seem tobe the classic case ofnot letting the Timberwolves hang around. They are aninjury-depleted team right now and not as deep or talented as theWarriors.The better start the Warriors get off to, the more likelytheir chances of keeping Minnesota down all game long are. This is the kind ofgame where the Warriors should realize theyve got a great opportunity againstan overmatched opponent and theyll need to take advantage of that.Limit turnovers: The Warriors committed23 turnovers against the Hawks on Wednesday which turned into 28 points. Still,the Warriors found a way to beat Atlanta 92-88.Nobody has been shakier with the ball than Curry, who hasjust 43 assists this season to 27 turnovers. But Thompson and Lee have alsoturned it over quite a bit in the early season and its something the Warriorsneed to get under control.

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