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MINNEAPOLIS — The series was over when Steph Curry strained his hamstring 13 minutes into Game 1, but the Warriors’ season officially ended on Wednesday night at the Target Center.
The Warriors’ defense, best in the league after the All-Star break, bent into a pretzel in Wednesday’s elimination game. Minnesota scored more than 30 points in each of the first three quarters with an overwhelming egalitarian approach and the Timberwolves made a closeout game look easy in a 121-110 victory.
Minnesota solved the math; all 121 of the Wolves’ points in Game 5 came either from 3-point range, in the paint, or at the foul line. Led by Julius Randle (29 points) and Anthony Edwards (22 points, 12 assists), the Timberwolves shot 63% from the field and 42% from 3-point range.
The Wolves won each of the four games Curry missed with the left hamstring strain he suffered in Game 1, sending the Warriors packing before Curry could get cleared for a possible return. The Wolves took no chances in letting that boogeyman loose.
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“If we’re healthy, if all this and if all that, then it might be different,” Jimmy Butler said postgame. “We don’t know. But we’re going to take our chances, for sure, if Steph is out there. We’ll come back, figure this thing out next year, do the same thing.”
Golden State’s season started on the north shore of Oahu and ended in the land of 1,000 lakes. The Warriors really played two seasons in one: one before Butler and one after.
Before trading for Butler, Golden State was a floundering team going nowhere. The Warriors couldn’t score consistently enough to pencil in any wins on their schedule, as evidenced by losses to Brooklyn, San Antonio, and Toronto. After, they sauntered into every arena thinking they could win, and rightfully so.
With Butler, the Warriors went 24-8 to close the season and posted the league’s best offense and catapulted from .500 to the No. 7 seed in the West. The star wing dropped 30 in the Warriors’ regular season finale, 38 in their play-in victory, and 25 in a Game 1 win at Houston.
Facing elimination Wednesday, Butler dialed up his aggression after attempting just one field goal in the first quarter (and nine total in Game 4). But even with a greater intent to score, another hot Jonathan Kuminga (26 points on 11-for-23 shooting) night, and a bounce-back game from Brandin Podziemski (28 points on 11-for-19), the Warriors couldn’t keep up with Minnesota.
The Timberwolves, save for a few minutes against Golden State’s zone, got whatever they wanted offensively. Mike Conley and Donte DiVincenzo made the right reads when the Warriors trapped the ball out of Anthony Edwards’ hands, leading to dunks. Minnesota also hit eight of its first 19 3-pointers.
Steve Kerr went 11 deep in his rotation, but the talent disparity would have had him searching for solutions until the end of time. Minnesota closed the first half on a 17-5 run and kept surging.
The Warriors threw a myriad of defensive strategies at Edwards and the Timberwolves. High double-teams, a box-and-one, zone defenses, full-court traps. Nothing worked until an inspired run in the fourth quarter — but it was too late.
As the Timberwolves pulled away in the third quarter, the Target Center speakers played “Blow the Whistle” by Too Short and Mac Dre’s “Feeling Myself” — two Bay Area hip-hop staples.
When the Wolves ballooned their lead to 20, Kuminga and Buddy Hield were caught arguing a call as Minnesota inbounded to Edwards for a corner three. Then Hield didn’t get over halfcourt fast enough, resulting in a backcourt violation.
The Warriors believed that even without Curry, they could hang with the Wolves if they played with intensity and stuck to their game plan. They weren’t able to test that theory in Game 5.
A bench unit cut Minnesota’s lead to nine in the fourth and Podziemski continued to surge, but “Wolves in Five” chants picked up once Minnesota regained control.
Had the Warriors won one of the previous three games — their best shot was in Game 3, when Butler and Kuminga combined for 63 points — they would’ve extended the series long enough for Curry to possibly return from his hamstring strain.
“That was the one we needed to get,” Kerr said postgame.
Instead, he watched from the sideline as the season slipped away in a fourth consecutive defeat.
“It sucks to end this way, but we think we got the pieces to make another run at it and do it again,” Draymond Green said. “That’s going to be our mindset going into the summer.”
Still, Timberwolves are heading to their second straight conference finals, and the Warriors are heading into their summer with one big “what-if” on their minds.
“I don’t even have to think, I know we had a shot,” Kerr said. “I know we could’ve gone the distance. Maybe we wouldn’t have, it doesn’t matter. Again, everything in the playoffs is about who stays healthy and who gets hot.”