MINNEOLIS — The Minnesota Timberwolves had been stewing over their tough begin in Recreation 1 in opposition to Golden State, a response coach Chris Finch was happy to see.
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Julius Randle had 24 factors and 11 assists to assist the Timberwolves capitalize on Warriors star Stephen Curry’s absence in a 117-93 victory Thursday that tied the second-round sequence at a sport apiece.
The muse was laid in an ornery movie session with Finch and his employees the day earlier than.
“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 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 and Trayce Jackson-Davis 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. “I think 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 offense with a healthy Curry.
“We have to figure out what we’re going to be able to do in this series without Steph,” Kerr stated. “So we gave lots of people plenty of probabilities, and a few guys actually stepped up.”
Towards the Wolves and their athletic, lengthy and versatile protection, there wasn’t a lot to lean on. With out Curry to fret about, the Wolves had a neater time preserving shooters Buddy Hield and Brandin Podziemski quiet.
The Warriors put up their lowest first-quarter rating within the playoffs since Recreation 6 of the 2016 NBA Finals, in accordance with Sportradar, once they had 11 in a loss to Cleveland.
Draymond Inexperienced picked up his fifth technical foul of the playoffs, two in need of an computerized one-game suspension, for elbowing Naz Reid after Reid had simply fouled him.
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