The Minnesota Timberwolves snapped a three-game losing streak Friday night with a 127-117 win over the Golden State Warriors, but it wasn't without it's hiccups. 

Minnesota came out of the gate strong with a 69 point first half to take a 21 point lead and with Anthony Edwards, who finished the game with 42 points, performing at his usual high level, things looked to be well in hand for the Timberwolves. 

But the Warriors weren't done yet. The answered with a 39 point third quarter to shave down the lead and proceeded to outscore the Timberwolves again in the fourth quarter, this time by three points.

The end result was still a 10 point victory for the Timberwolves, but the fight that Golden State put up reveals a worrying trend that speaks to Minnesota's inability to seal away games at times, something that head coach Chris Finch is keenly aware of.

"I just told the team, this is a bit of a microcosm of our season. We play well, we do the right things, get rewarded for it, then just completely lose focus, downshift a gear or two," Finch said to the media. "They got back into it and we stopped making the extra effort defensively and had to regroup. That's unfortunately part of our DNA."

Finch went on to be thankful that the Timberwolves won the game, which is crucial given the volatile state of playoff seeding in the Western Conference at the moment, but he also described the 39-point third quarter they allowed to the Warriors "unacceptable."

The Timberwolves have the talent to be one of the best teams in the NBA on both sides of the court and it's those combinations of qualities that's kept them in playoff contention at this point of the season, but those qualities also don't always show up at the same time, particularly on the defensive end. 

The offense was there on Friday to provide enough of a cushion to withstand their defensive lapses, but that's not always going to the case. Especially in a playoff situation against a team of similar or even greater talent at times, it's defense that becomes the more reliable predictor of success. 

It's that the Timberwolves don't have the arsenal to come out the better end of a shootout against another team, but that's a chaotic strategy that a playoff series may not allow the time for. 

It's just as important to keep leads as it is to establish them and Minnesota hasn't always been able to do that. Rarely have their losses been a result of them being completely outmatched on the offensive end, but rather that their defense didn't keep the opposition down by the final buzzer. 

The Timberwolves has the making to jump out ahead in games, but if they don't find ways to comfortably stay ahead, they may find themselves sent home when it matters most.