The Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors each knocked off a higher-seeded opponent in the first round of the playoffs.
Now, the teams will battle for a trip to the Western Conference finals.
Sixth-seeded Minnesota will tip off against seventh-seeded Golden State in Game 1 of their best-of-seven semifinals series on Tuesday night in Minneapolis. The series will stay in Minnesota for Game 2 on Thursday before shifting to San Francisco for games 3 and 4.
Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said both teams enter the series on a similar trajectory.
“It’s obviously a tough matchup,” Finch said. “It’s a championship pedigree team. They’re similar to us. They’ve played their best basketball down the stretch and into the playoffs.
“They’re coming off a really, really tough series, no doubt about it. But they showed what they’re made of in that series.”
The Warriors are coming off a first-round win over the Houston Rockets in a series that went the full seven games. The team had one off day between Sunday’s 103-89 win in Houston and Tuesday’s series opener.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr praised his players for holding on for the first-round victory. Golden State is back in the semifinals after losing in the play-in round a season ago.
The acquisition of Jimmy Butler has had a lot to do with the Warriors’ resurgence. Butler joined a lineup that already featured Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, and the trio has rejuvenated the team over the past three months.
Golden State was 25-26 when Butler made his team debut on Feb. 8 against the Chicago Bulls. The Warriors won 24 of 32 games to conclude the regular season before advancing in the play-in round and taking down the second-seeded Rockets.
“We’re excited. We’re thrilled,” Kerr said. “When I think back to the trade deadline, where we were as a team, I’m so proud of these guys for what they’ve accomplished to put us in a position, as Steph says, to play meaningful basketball and give ourselves a chance. This is all you want every year: Do you have a chance? And we’ve got a chance with this group.”
Anthony Edwards gives the Timberwolves a great chance as well. He leads the team with 26.8 points per game in the playoffs, and he racked up 31 assists with only six turnovers during a five-game series win over the third-seeded Los Angeles Lakers.
Julius Randle also has shined in the playoffs for Minnesota, recording 22.6 points per game. Jaden McDaniels is averaging 17.4 points per game while drawing the top matchup on defense.
In the semifinals, that likely means McDaniels will spend much of his time trying to slow down Curry, who averaged 24 points on 47.1 percent shooting from the field in the first round. Butler averaged 18.3 points and Brandon Podziemski averaged 11.
Golden State won the regular-season series 3-1. All of those games took place before the Warriors added Butler to their lineup.
Curry knows it will be a tough series against Edwards and his Minnesota teammates, who are trying to get back to the conference finals for the second straight season.
“We know they had their run last year,” Curry said. “They have a new look from Randle but the same ‘Ant’ who’s trying to take strides with every opportunity he gets. It’s going to be a tough challenge, we know.
“We’re going to have to send multiple bodies at (Edwards) and figure out a game plan to go at him. They’re hot right now. They’ve been playing some great basketball the last couple months. We’re excited that we have an opportunity to have some more basketball to play, too.”
–Field Level Media
