The Minnesota Timberwolves were stewing over their rough start in Game 1 against Golden State, a reaction coach Chris Finch was pleased to see.
Julius Randle had 24 points and 11 assists to help the Timberwolves capitalise on Warriors star Stephen Curry’s absence in a 117-93 victory Thursday that tied the second-round series at a game apiece.
The foundation was laid in an ornery film session with Finch and his staff the day before.
“He was unhappy, and he let us know he was unhappy, and we felt that,” Randle said. “We were pretty motivated as a team.”
Anthony Edwards finished with 20 points after an injury scare for the Wolves, who more than tripled their 3-point output (going 16 for 37) from their Game 1 loss when Curry was sidelined by a left hamstring strain that likely will keep him out at least until next week.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 20 points to spearhead a superb performance by the bench, combining with Donte DiVincenzo and Naz Reid to go 10 for 22 from deep.
“We looked a lot more like ourselves,” Finch said.
Jonathan Kuminga (18 points) and Trayce Jackson-Davis (15) combined to shoot 14 for 17 from the floor for the Warriors. They took nearly five minutes to score, finally breaking through down 13-0 on Jimmy Butler’s 3-pointer.
With the NBA’s career leading 3-point shooter next to him on the bench, coach Steve Kerr used a kitchen-sink experiment with 14 players getting time.
“But I would still like to win,” Butler said. “The biggest lesson is don’t start off in a hole like we did tonight, and the game maybe could have ended up a little bit differently.”
Kuminga, the seventh overall pick in the 2021 draft who dropped out of the rotation at times during the regular season and missed significant time with a sprained right ankle, was a bright spot off the bench. But this Warriors team was already thin on offence with a healthy Curry.
“We have to figure out what we’re going to be able to do in this series without Steph,” Kerr said. “So we gave a lot of people a lot of chances, and some guys really stepped up.”
Against the Wolves and their athletic, long and versatile defence, there wasn’t much to lean on. Without Curry to worry about, the Wolves had an easier time keeping shooters Buddy Hield and Brandin Podziemski quiet.
The Warriors put up their lowest first-quarter score (15) in the playoffs since Game 6 of the 2016 NBA Finals, according to Sportradar, when they had 11 in a loss to Cleveland.
Draymond Green picked up his fifth technical foul of the playoffs, two short of an automatic one-game suspension, for elbowing Naz Reid after Reid had just fouled him.
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