The Minnesota Timberwolves return to a familiar place. The Wolves eliminated the Golden State Warriors 121-110 Wednesday evening to qualify for the Western Conference final.
The Wolves sent the Warriors of the seventh seeded to a rowdy environment of match 5, going to their second consecutive West final. Six different players from Minnesota marked two figures while Julius Randle led all scorers with 29 points. He also had eight rebounds and five assists. Anthony Edwards added 22 points, seven rebounds and 12 assists. Rudy Gobert scored 17 points and Mike Conley 16 points in a versatile performance.
Golden State took advantage of his opportunities, but whenever Curry Steph warriors sank, the Wolves replied. Brandin Podziemski led Golden State with 28 points, Jonathan Kuminga scored 26 points and Jimmy Butler scored 17 points, caught six rebounds and collected six assists.
The Wolves will face the Denver Nuggets or the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Earlier at night, the Boston Celtics lived to play another day, beating the New York Knicks 127-102 in match 5, narrowing the New York series at 3-2.
Boston won his first match in the series since the injury of Jayson Tatum’s star, who has torn his Achilles in match 4. The Knicks kept him tight in the first half, but were exceeded by the Celtics 32-17 in the third quarter. Derrick White paved the way in Boston with 34 points, three rebounds and two assists, alongside 26 Jaylen points, 12 assists and eight rebounds.
Jalen Brunson scored 22 for the Knicks before encouraging less than eight minutes to play in the fourth quarter.
The Knicks and the Celtics play Friday at 8 p.m. HE.
Julius Randle Up & Under 😮💨
Timberwolves just 4 minutes to reach the WCF 👀 pic.twitter.com/0vux4fh7zt
– NBA (@nba) May 15, 2025
Timberwolves 121, Warriors 110
(Wolves Win Series 4-1)
Warriors can only look to the future
The Warriors season is over. They have played their last four games without Steph Curry and lost the four, not having given his hamstrings stretched enough time to heal. Steve Kerr said on Wednesday before Curry returned to match 6, but there will be no match 6.
Instead, the Warriors cannot wonder what could have been with a healthy curry in the second round and prepare for a summer of questions about the best way to fill the rotation under curry.
They believe they gave him the second goal scorer and co-star. Jimmy Butler was silent in the last two defeats against Minnesota, but adapted brilliantly next to Curry when he arrived on the deadline, forming a combo of notation inside which delivered a wading team to disappearance.
The Warriors went from 11th place to the seventh. They have had the best defense of the league in the last two months. They went 23-7 when Curry and Butler were both in the programming. They beat the Rockets in the second seeded in the first round and increased by 30-20 in Match 1 to Minnesota when the left-wing hammers of Curry gave, and their chances of qualifying series have essentially disappeared.
Draymond Green is expected next to Curry and Butler. Below them, the Warriors will go in search of reinforcements via trade and the market for free agents. The future of Jonathan Kuminga is in question. The limited free agent could be kept or used in sign and exchange scenarios to bring back different talents.
The Warriors could use a more impactful departure center and an additional shot and score, offering more space in Butler, which had trouble finding a curry once. They could also use a jump of some of their young talents, such as Kuminga, Moses Moody and Brandin Podziemski, who all fought at various times in the playoffs.
But it is the story in the past two years for two -stroke warriors, trying to compete at the end of the curry window while reducing and developing simultaneously. They have not escaped the second round since the title 2022. – Anthony Slater, principal writer of warriors
Wolves’ start to season difficulties bear fruit
This Timberwolves season has sometimes been a slog. It was frustrating at the start of the season, looking at them having trouble incorporating Julius Randle and Donte Divincenzo while Karl-Anthony Towns prospered in New York. But they never gave in to the struggle, they relied. And now they are back where they were last season, in the Western Conference final.
They had to work for it. The Warriors, even without Steph Curry, were animated opponents throughout the way, including in match 5. It seemed that the Wolves were going to run away with the start of the fourth quarter. But the Warriors cut it nine before the wolves closed the door.
Now they are heading for the consecutive final of the conference for the first time in the history of the franchise. It doesn’t matter who they face, they will confident that they will be able to win it.
Forever and forever, people in the league and on the market would use “typical timberwolves” as a derogatory and implying and losing dysfunction. Now, “typical Timberwolves” has a new meaning: the contenders. – Jon Krawczynski, Wolves editor
Conley brings a veteran presence in great victory
Only the complacency could have prevented Minnesota Timberwolves from guaranteeing the Warriors series on Wednesday evening. Wolves were aware. The end of things in match 5 required a distinct degree of emergency, and which better to display it from the start than the man who understands what it means more than any other? Who better to direct the Timberwolves this night than the leader of the veteran Mike Conley?
The 18 -year -old pro has an impact on games in a way that is not always tangible. He whispers Intel in Anthony Edwards’ ears during waiting times. When Timberwolves coach staff must disseminate a message, they can often count on Conley. Sometimes, however, its production is essential. Wednesday became one of these nights. The ball was sworn in rhythm, and Conley buried 3 points, hitting 4 of the 6 attempts.
He also zipped timely passes. Twice in the second quarter, Conley hung up deviations, then put on passes between the defenders to the Rudy Gobert center. Conley finished with 16 points and eight rebounds. The statistics line was not spectacular, but that of Conley is rarely, even when it stabilizes the games that count in the pursuit of its team of a title. – Alec Lewis, editor of the NBA
Celtics 127, Knicks 102
(Knicks Lead Series 3-2)
Knicks collapses in the third quarter
Knicks’ 25 -year -old drought not to make the Eastern Conference final will have to wait a few more days, at least.
After entering half-time tie with a Celtics without a tatum, Boston blew up the Knicks door in the third quarter en route to a massive victory. The New York Transition Defense was appalling and allowed the best Boston shooters to embark on the comfort of the 3. Then, the defense of Halfcourt began to collapse, and these same immense shooters took training fire in a frame of Halfcourt.
The Knicks had big troubles for most of the night. Brunson had only five faults in the third quarter and made a mistake with more than seven minutes to play in the match.
Boston’s defense was healthy, and the tweak for goalkeeper Brown Brunson has paid a lot. New York pulled 34% of the soil before coach Tom Thibodeau decided to shoot his starters.
The Knicks still have a 3-2 lead and only need more victory to reach the final of the Eastern Conference. However, they must conclude as soon as possible, because the pacers with a quick and well -rested pace await their next opponent.
However, despite the management of the series, New York has a differential of less than 30 points in this series. They dragged great in every game. Knicks cannot continue to let this happen. – James L. Edwards III, Knicks staff editor
Porziņģis benching for Kornet pays
Kristaps Porziņģis entered match 5 pulling 5 for 18 in the series. Fighting through an illness that started to have an impact on the end of February, it was clearly slow at both ends of the ground during the first four games. With Tatum sidelined by an Achilles broken tendon, the Celtics started Porziņģis next to Al Horford anyway.
The decision did not work. During the 12 minutes of the first half of Porziņģis, the Celtics were upgraded by 12 points. He missed his three goal attempts on the field and caught only one bounce, pursuing an ineffective secure race. With the season at stake, coach Joe Mazzulla put the big man on the whole of the second half.
To start the third trimester, Mazzulla replaced Porziņģis by Luke Kornet, who delivered one of his best halves of all time. Kornet failed five Knicks Shots in an incredible third quarter. He finished with 10 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks to keep the Celtics alive. He had enough impact in match 5 so that it is even easier to wonder why Mazzulla remained with Porziņģ as much as he did earlier in the series. – Jay King, Celtics staff editor
Rare mistakes by Brunson
Wednesday evening’s surprise is not that the Celtics won in their building. That’s how it happened. The Boston avalanche started at the beginning of the third quarter and did not stop before it was too late. The Celtics made mistakes. They arrived at the free throw line 18 times during the period. They drained 3s and went out in transition. The Knicks pulled only 4 out of 20 on the field in the third.
It is not surprising that the reigning champions can perform a race potentially modifying the season, even without a tatum. But the shock came with it: it almost seemed that the Knicks let him occur.
Brunson, who rarely faults, has committed four faults just in the third. The starting program of the Knicks, which has been disappointed since 2025 and was a less-22 in this series, was struggling again. After very first halves of the Mitchell Robinson and Miles “Deucte” McBride reserves, Thibodeau only replaced at the end of the quarter. As the bench players arrived, the Knicks had dropped the rope. – Fred Katz, senior writer of the NBA
Brown comes for Boston
With missing Tatum, Brown had to intensify. But he looked like a shell of himself all the series. Could he really transform into, well, brown? There was no doubt at the end of the third quarter. Brown was not his usual explosive self, which may never be one thing for the rest of this still endless qualifying series. But he showed that he could manage a game from the ground, performing each facet of the game plan to perfection after half-time.
The Celtics had the opportunity to get started early in the bonus, so Brown continued to drive to Karl-Anthony Towns and Brunson until the Celtics can live on the line. He even asked Brunson to be mistaken at the beginning of the fourth quarter, allowing Celtics to keep a great lead.
Kornet changed the game in the second half, and White obtained them there, but Brown showed that he could intensify the absence of Tatum to manage this Celtics team as they have always done. Who knows if it will last match 6, but at least he can leave the fans of the Celtics on a high note if it was their last time in the garden this season. – Jared Weiss, Celtic staff editor
(Photo: Ellen Schmidt / Getty Images)
