Julius Randle scored 24 points and dished 11 assists as the Minnesota Timberwolves pulled away for a 117-93 win over the Golden State Warriors in Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal series on Thursday night in Minneapolis.
Anthony Edwards added 20 points and nine rebounds for Minnesota, which evened the best-of-seven series at 1-1. Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 20 points off the bench, and Jaden McDaniels finished with 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting.
“We watched film yesterday,” Edwards said. “We saw that it wasn’t just that we didn’t make shots (in Game 1), it was more so our defensive pressure and intensity. We didn’t bring it. So, we knew we had to bring it today.”
Jonathan Kuminga scored 18 points on 8-for-11 shooting to lead the Warriors. Jimmy Butler III tallied 17 points to go along with seven rebounds.
Warriors guard Stephen Curry watched the game in street clothes on the bench. The contest marked Golden State’s first playoff game without Curry, who injured his left hamstring in Game 1 and is expected to miss at least a week.
The Timberwolves overcame an injury scare to Edwards in Game 2. Their leading scorer during the regular season limped slowly off the court after injuring his left ankle in the second quarter, but he returned to start the second half.
Golden State pulled within 62-55 by starting the third quarter on a 16-6 run. Buddy Hield punctuated the run with a 3-pointer off an assist from Brandin Podziemski.
“We made a really spirited run, got it to seven, and then we just kind of lost a little bit of composure,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “We turned it over right out of that timeout a couple of times and gave up a couple threes where we lost connection defensively. But we learned a lot, and I think this game will help us figure out how to move forward.”
Minnesota responded with an 18-5 run later in the third quarter to re-establish control. Alexander-Walker buried a 3-pointer from the left wing to put the Timberwolves on top, 83-63, with 27.1 seconds left in the period.
The Timberwolves’ regulars watched the final few minutes from the bench with the score out of reach. Reserves such as Terrence Shannon Jr., Josh Minott and Leonard Miller scored in the final two minutes.
The Timberwolves led 56-39 at the half.
Minnesota started the game on a 25-7 run. Edwards drained a 3-pointer and Alexander-Walker added a two-point basket to put the Timberwolves on top by 18 with 2:36 remaining in the first quarter.
“We looked a lot more like ourselves,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “Obviously, the start was great for us, that’s what we needed to set the tone. I thought we were pretty consistent with everything other than the beginning of the second half. Other than that, it was exactly the response that we needed.”
Frustrations mounted for Golden State in the second quarter. Draymond Green drew a technical foul after swatting Naz Reid on a physical play, then Green gave officials an earful before Kerr benched him so he could calm his emotions.
Kerr gave more than nine minutes of action to 10 players.
“We had found a formula over the last couple months and obviously we were having a lot of success,” he said. “But without Steph, the formula completely goes out the window, and we’ve got to figure out the next formula.”
–Field Level Media
