Former NBA champions Golden State Warriors were eliminated from the playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves one step away from the Western Conference finals. The Warriors were forced to play without star Stephen Curry, who has been out with a hamstring strain since the second quarter in Game 1. The series ended early for the Warriors with a 121-110 defeat in Game 5. The former NBA champs were hoping to stay alive at least their talisman Curry returned to action. While the team’s second star Jimmy Butler had 17 points for the Warriors, players like Brandin Podziemski, who scored a playoff career-high 28 points for the Warriors, and Jonathan Kuminga, who came off the bench for the team and scored 26 points.
Curry watched from the sidelines as his 16th season in the league ended unceremoniously.
Before eliminating the Warriors, the Minnesota Timberwolves had also shown the exit door to the Los Angeles Lakers. They have now earned themselves a few days to recoup, and could enjoy as much as five days off if the Nuggets beat the Thunder on Thursday and force a Game 7 in the other West semifinal series. The Minnesota franchise will play the winner of that series between the Denver Nuggets vs Oklahoma City Thunder series.
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The sixth-seeded Wolves were dragged into the Conference Finals by Anthony Edwards, who scored 22 points and racked up 12 assists on the night. Rudy Gobert added 17 points while Mike Conley, with 16 points and eight assists, and Donte DiVincenzo, with 13 points, also contributed. The Associated Press reported that the Wolves shot a staggering 77% on 2-pointers (36 for 47). They set franchise postseason records for assists (36) and field goal percentage (62.8%).
According to Sportradar, the Golden State Warriors, who last won an NBA title in 2022, hadn’t lost four straight games in a single postseason since 1972. The Warriors had established a dynasty in the phase between 2015 to 2018, winning three titles in four seasons. They entered the playoffs in red-hot form, after boasting one of the best records in the regular season. They also shot down the second seeded Houston Rockets in the first round.
Festive offer
For the Timberwolves, Julius Randle scored 29 points on 13-for-18 shooting in Game 5. The team is headed to the finals of the Western Conference for the second straight year now.
Draymond Green, the Warriors’ defensive bedrock, admitted after the game 5 defeat that the Warriors should have gone much further in the season.
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While admitting that the Curry injury had cost the team heavily, he added: “They beat us. Injuries are a part of it. We’ve won championships when guys got hurt.”