Why there’s no shame in Warriors being eliminated by Timberwolves originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
MINNEAPOLIS – From the moment Stephen Curry limped off the floor after playing 13 promising minutes in Game 1, the Warriors were crawling uphill in mud against the Minnesota Timberwolves. They had to know winning even one more game, perhaps creating a jolt of post-Steph confidence, would require an extraordinary performance.
No such thing occurred. The Warriors were not extraordinary enough. Not in Game 2 or Game 3 or Game 4, all losses with similar characteristics.
It was no different Wednesday night in Game 5, facing elimination in the Western Conference semifinals, which ended with the Warriors being thumped into the offseason by a 117-110 loss that was much more decisive than the score indicates.
The better team won Game 5 and the series, sweeping the last four games.
“I thought Game 3 was the key to the series,” coach Steve Kerr said. “We’re at 1-1, and we got a six-point lead in the mid-fourth [quarter], and they made huge plays down the stretch. That was the one we needed to get.
“And then I thought the last two games, they broke free offensively. And they shot 63 percent tonight. We couldn’t stop them.”
There is no shame or dishonor about Golden State’s effort before a rollicking sellout crowd at Target Center. The Warriors accomplished their No. 1 defensive priority, doing a marvelous job of preventing the redoubtable Anthony Edwards from shooting them off the floor. Doubling and trapping, they forced Edwards to move the ball.
Edwards quickly caught on and improvised, turning the game over to his teammates, who did a terrific job of shredding Golden State’s formerly respectable defense. The Warriors in the first half limited Edwards to six points but went into the locker room trailing 62-47.
“We threw a lot of stuff at him,” Kerr said of Edwards who finished with 22 points and a game-high 12 assists. “Box-and-one on one possession, a lot of zone-trapping in the back court. But they’re a hell of a team. They’ve got shooting everywhere. And that’s the name of the game in the modern NBA.”
The Timberwolves shot 62.8 percent from the field, including 41.9 percent from deep. Six different players scored in double figures, led by Julius Randle’s 29 points. Golden State’s top-five offense was no match.
“They moved the ball incredibly well, got into the paint,” Jimmy Butler III said. “I don’t feel like we took too much away from them. We talked about what we wanted to do. We did it in some spurts, but not the entire game – which we needed to do. They played well. You’ve got to give them that.”
The Warriors were appreciably outplayed by a team that is bigger, faster, deeper, more athletic and more skilled. Quite simply, superior. The Timberwolves, for much of this series, and surely in clinching Game 5, looked as if they were from a higher league.
“They got a chance. They’ve got a real shot,” Draymond Green said of the Wolves. “Anytime you got No. 2 [Randle] that can just go get it, you give yourself a chance at the go make it happen and get a ring. The way Julius has been playing … he’s been lights out.”
Game 5 was such disaster that the arena DJ turned to soundtrack that practically mocked the Warriors and the Bay Area, blasting such artists Too Short, Mac Dre and E-40 on what felt like a rotational loop.
Golden State’s veteran starters – Butler, Green and Buddy Hield – never mounted much of a threat in Game 5, combining for 35 points on 10-of-31 shooting from the field, including 1 of 13 from beyond the arc. Butler was minus-17 over 41 minutes, Green was minus-9 over 36 minutes and Hield finished minus-13 over 30 minutes.
What little offense Golden State stirred during the heart of the game came mostly from Brandin Podziemski (a playoff-career high 28 points in by far his best game of the series) and Jonathan Kuminga (26 points, his third consecutive productive outing).
This always was going to be a tough series, but there is no doubt Curry’s presence could have made it more competitive. Whether that would have been enough to tip the balance toward the Warriors is questionable. Once Curry was sidelined, the Warriors needed to win at least one of their home games to give themselves legitimate hope. Dropping both games and returning to Minnesota facing elimination put them in position to get smacked.
Two-plus months of quality basketball took the Warriors this far. About as far as they could go, considering their compromised roster. Even through the disappointment, they can hold their heads high.
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Why there’s no shame in Warriors being eliminated by Timberwolves
MINNEAPOLIS – From the moment Stephen Curry limped off the floor after playing 13 promising minutes in Game 1, the Warriors were crawling uphill in mud against the Minnesota Timberwolves. They had to know winning even one more game, perhaps creating a jolt of post-Steph confidence, would require an extraordinary performance.
No such thing occurred. The Warriors were not extraordinary enough. Not in Game 2 or Game 3 or Game 4, all losses with similar characteristics.
It was no different Wednesday night in Game 5, facing elimination in the Western Conference semifinals, which ended with the Warriors being thumped into the offseason by a 117-110 loss that was much more decisive than the score indicates.
SIGN UP HERE The better team won Game 5 and the series, sweeping the last four games.
“I thought Game 3 was the key to the series,” coach Steve Kerr said. “We’re at 1-1, and we got a six-point lead in the mid-fourth [quarter], and they made huge plays down the stretch. That was the one we needed to get.
“And then I thought the last two games, they broke free offensively. And they shot 63 percent tonight. We couldn’t stop them.”
There is no shame or dishonor about Golden State’s effort before a rollicking sellout crowd at Target Center. The Warriors accomplished their No. 1 defensive priority, doing a marvelous job of preventing the redoubtable Anthony Edwards from shooting them off the floor. Doubling and trapping, they forced Edwards to move the ball.
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Edwards quickly caught on and improvised, turning the game over to his teammates, who did a terrific job of shredding Golden State’s formerly respectable defense. The Warriors in the first half limited Edwards to six points but went into the locker room trailing 62-47.
“We threw a lot of stuff at him,” Kerr said of Edwards who finished with 22 points and a game-high 12 assists. “Box-and-one on one possession, a lot of zone-trapping in the back court. But they’re a hell of a team. They’ve got shooting everywhere. And that’s the name of the game in the modern NBA.”
The Timberwolves shot 62.8 percent from the field, including 41.9 percent from deep. Six different players scored in double figures, led by Julius Randle’s 29 points. Golden State’s top-five offense was no match.
“They moved the ball incredibly well, got into the paint,” Jimmy Butler III said. “I don’t feel like we took too much away from them. We talked about what we wanted to do. We did it in some spurts, but not the entire game – which we needed to do. They played well. You’ve got to give them that.”
The Warriors were appreciably outplayed by a team that is bigger, faster, deeper, more athletic and more skilled. Quite simply, superior. The Timberwolves, for much of this series, and surely in clinching Game 5, looked as if they were from a higher league.
“They got a chance. They’ve got a real shot,” Draymond Green said of the Wolves. “Anytime you got No. 2 [Randle] that can just go get it, you give yourself a chance at the go make it happen and get a ring. The way Julius has been playing … he’s been lights out.”
Game 5 was such disaster that the arena DJ turned to soundtrack that practically mocked the Warriors and the Bay Area, blasting such artists Too Short, Mac Dre and E-40 on what felt like a rotational loop.
Golden State’s veteran starters – Butler, Green and Buddy Hield – never mounted much of a threat in Game 5, combining for 35 points on 10-of-31 shooting from the field, including 1 of 13 from beyond the arc. Butler was minus-17 over 41 minutes, Green was minus-9 over 36 minutes and Hield finished minus-13 over 30 minutes.
What little offense Golden State stirred during the heart of the game came mostly from Brandin Podziemski (a playoff-career high 28 points in by far his best game of the series) and Jonathan Kuminga (26 points, his third consecutive productive outing).
This always was going to be a tough series, but there is no doubt Curry’s presence could have made it more competitive. Whether that would have been enough to tip the balance toward the Warriors is questionable. Once Curry was sidelined, the Warriors needed to win at least one of their home games to give themselves legitimate hope. Dropping both games and returning to Minnesota facing elimination put them in position to get smacked.
Two-plus months of quality basketball took the Warriors this far. About as far as they could go, considering their compromised roster. Even through the disappointment, they can hold their heads high.
Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast
