Takeaways from Warriors' Loss to T-Wolves: Dubs' Roster Flaw Exposed

Playing without Stephen Curry and five other key rotation players, the Golden State Warriors couldn't muster consistent offense in an 108-83 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday at Target Center.

The Warriors didn't attempt their first free throw until halfway through the third quarter, and they finished just 9-of-39 from the three-point line.

Julius Randle had a game-high 18 points. Quinten Post had a team-high 13 points for the Warriors.

Here are two takeaways from Monday's game.

Golden State's Lack of Explosive Ball-Handlers Exposed

The Warriors will be playing without Jimmy Butler for the rest of this season, and for this game, they were without Curry and De'Anthony Melton as well.

Those are their three best ball-handlers and drivers, so I acknowledge that injuries are a big part of this criticism.

But still, it's a serious weakness for this roster as a whole.

Most teams have way more than three players who can consistently get downhill. After Curry, Butler and Melton, the Warriors' best bets are probably Pat Spencer and Brandin Podziemski.

Both rarely made threatening drives Monday, and the result was a lot of Warriors possessions that had nothing going. Some of those ended with contested threes. Others ended with turnovers.

On the one hand, it makes sense that Steve Kerr and Mike Dunleavy target high-IQ players who can fit in their system. On the other, it's a roster failure when your fourth-best ball-handler is a 29-year-old on a two-way contract.

Overall, the Warriors shot just 35 percent from the field and had 18 turnovers.

Warriors Missing a Gobert-Like Presence

Rudy Gobert is a four-time Defensive Player of the Year making $35 million this season. It's not easy finding 7'1" centers with his defensive instincts.

But it is an issue that the Warriors have no one like him.

Post is a 7-footer, but he's not much of a rim protector. Draymond Green, who missed Monday's game, has a lengthy career highlight reel of incredible blocks, but at 6'6", he's not altering shots like Gobert does.

Gobert dominated Monday's game with 15 points, 17 rebounds and two blocks. Post and the other Warriors bigs had no answer for him down low.

The Warriors are even more desperate for a big wing after Butler's injury, but they have to at least consider making a trade for a big like Robert Williams III.

It would do wonders for Green to play with a center who opposing scorers have to actually worry about.