On Thursday, the Minnesota Timberwolves equaled the semi-final of the West Conference, comfortably defeating the Golden State Warriors 117-93 at the Target Center.
The Warriors were without a star guard Stephen Curry, who was excluded from match 2 with a tension in the hamstrings of grade 1.
The Timberwolves, on the other hand, survived a fear in the left ankle of Anthony Edwards. Edwards was helped in the locker room in the second quarter after driving to the basket and blocking his shot by Trayce Jackson-Davis. Edwards fell immediately and caught his left ankle. He returned at the start of the second half after being deemed questionable to come back.
“Feeling good,” said Edwards about his ankle match. “Yeah, feeling good.”
Julius Randle punctuated the Timberwolves with 24 points and recorded a career summit of 10 assists. Edwards and Nickeil Alexander-Walker each had 20 points.
For the Warriors, Jonathan Kuminga led with 18 points. Jimmy Butler had 17 points and Buddy Hield and Jackson-Davis each scored 15.
Match 3 is on Saturday in San Francisco.
Julius Randle shows finesse and power 💪
He has 16 pts in the first half of match 2 on TNT!
Warriors (1-0) Timberwolves pic.twitter.com/jo9qhwaxsv
– NBA (@nba) May 9, 2025
Minnesota gains in defense
The Timberwolves did what they had to do in match 2, withdrawing the defensive energy to win and even the series. But if they tried to send a message to the Warriors, they have no chance without curry, that did not happen.
Golden State was less than 12 points in the third quarter and continued to drag thanks to a bad selection of shooting and nights from Edwards and Rudy Gobert at this end of the ground. Edwards was only 6-in-13 for 20 points while playing through an ankle sprain. Gobert collected five points and took four shots. These figures should have been much more important, but he had one of his worst nights with the safety of the balls of the season.
In the end, the Wolves increased the defense enough to prevent the Warriors from doing something. If the Wolves will win this series, they will do so. It was their business card all last season, and they will have to grind this short -term Warriors team.
Jaden McDaniels was great at this end of the ground, limiting the efficiency of Butler. Mike Conley and Alexander-Walker maintained a hand at shooting 5 for 14.
It is their meal ticket in this series while Curry was released. – Jon Krawczynski, Timberwolves Beat Writer
The warriors were dull without curry
The Warriors delivered the loss of two -digit roads from the match 2 that Las Vegas predicted. They became aimless in the first five minutes, had only 15 points in the first quarter and have a serious offensive problem in this curry without series.
Looking at this new non-curry world, coach Steve Kerr did a first half of 14 players for any type of answer. He discovered some possibilities. Kuminga received his longest track in a month and responded with 18 points on 8 shots out of 11 in 26 minutes. Jackson-Davis was also out of the deep gel and provided a serious on-board pressure, finishing with 15 points and six rebounds in nine minutes.
Kuminga started the second half and Jackson-Davis quickly cut each other quickly. It seems likely that Kerr will go to match 3. Kuminga and Jackson-Davis are two of the team’s best athletes. The difficulty Moses Moody, who missed his last 14 shots, and Quinten Post, who started but only played three minutes, seems to be obvious candidates to disappear from the rotation.
But it is clear that the Warriors will need a different and more aggressive version of Butler to obtain one or two victories in this series, extending it long enough for the hamstrings of Curry to heal. Butler collected 17 points and four assists in 34 decent but not very spectacular minutes. He only took 13 shots. It might have to be doubled in match 3. – Anthony Slater, NBA Senior writer
Alexander-Walker has a game in small groups
Alexander-Walker may have been the most coherent player in Timberwolves throughout the regular season. He is one of the best defenders of the team’s perimeter and has also passed as a reliable 3 -point shooter, making 38%.
But he started the playoffs in a terrible shooting crisis. Alexander-Walker was 9 for 37 on the field (24%), including 5 for 25 of Deep (20%) in the first six games. He finally succeeded in match 2, scoring 20 points on shooting 7 for 13, including four 3 points.
Wolves also needed it. When Alexander-Walker killed 3 at a reliable rate, it makes them so much more difficult to keep. After spending 12 for 76 in their two previous games of 3, the Wolves were 15 for 37 (41%) in match 2. – Krawczynski
(Photo: Jesse D. Garrabrant / NBAE via Getty Images)
