Tuesday’s Game 1 of their second-round playoff series might have been a costly one for the Golden State Warriors, but at least they earned a victory.
Golden State defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 99-88 at Target Center to take a 1-0 lead, but Stephen Curry was ruled out for the remainder of the contest in the first half with a left hamstring strain.
To its credit, it fought through the adversity behind a stout defensive showing and balanced offense with Buddy Hield (24 points and eight rebounds), Jimmy Butler (20 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists and two steals) and Draymond Green (18 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals) leading the way.
Social media was impressed with the Warriors’ ability to rally past Curry’s setback:
The Timberwolves figured to be the fresher team coming into this series considering they cruised past the Los Angeles Lakers in five games in the first round and hadn’t played since Wednesday. On the other side, the Warriors needed a grueling seven games to outlast the Houston Rockets and just played on Sunday.
Yet it was Minnesota’s offense that was nowhere to be found out of the gates.
The home team managed just 31 points in the first half while falling behind by 13. It went 0-of-15 from three-point range as a team while Anthony Edwards went 0-of-8 from the field against a strong Warriors defense with Green and Butler setting the tone.
Still, the advantage felt tenuous at best with Curry sidelined since Minnesota was still well within striking distance even after an abysmal offensive start.
It also seemed like the Timberwolves would rally when Naz Reid hit the team’s first three and Edwards scored his first field goal on back-to-back possessions in the third quarter. The sequence drew a roar from the crowd that came across as somewhat sarcastic, but it gave the home team some much-needed momentum.
That momentum didn’t last long, though, as Hield shifted into takeover mode with an elevated role with Curry sidelined.
He poured in 16 points in the third quarter alone with nine of them coming in a row for the visitors on back-to-back threes plus an and-one play. It was the exact type of lift Golden State needed to fill the Curry void, and it extended the lead to a commanding 20 entering the fourth.
Yet the Timberwolves cut the deficit to single digits with Rudy Gobert battling on the glass, Reid hitting threes and Edwards attacking off the bounce. The Warriors needed one more response, and Gary Payton II and Hield provided it with clutch threes down the stretch.
While Curry questions will linger, the Warriors now have the momentum heading into Thursday’s Game 2.
