Timberwolves dreadful in Game 1 loss to Curry-less Warriors

Golden State was rolling Minnesota early in the second quarter of Event of Tuesday s Western Conference semifinal series at Target Center But then an unfortunate event that figures to change the subject of the series occurred as Warriors star guard Steph Curry pulled up lame and left the encounter with a hamstring strain He did not return Surely Minnesota recovered from there Golden State sans the man its entire offense is built around Or you know not Frankly it was Minnesota s offense that looked like it was missing a key part or five in its - defeat at the hands of short-handed Golden State Minnesota went for from -point range in the first half after going for in its closeout preeminence over the Lakers last week But the offensive struggles extended far beyond shots not falling Golden State s rotations and attention to detail were far more crisp than anything Los Angeles put forth in the last round Minnesota stopped moving the ball and its bodies The Wolves were stuck in the mud They trailed by at one point in the third frame Minnesota conclusively attacked the rack in the fourth quarter putting together a mini rally to pull within nine in the final six minutes but a consecutive pair of buckets from Jimmy Butler and Buddy Hield absolutely ended Golden State s offensive drought to build the lead back to Championship is on Thursday in Minneapolis It would appear to be a longshot that Curry would be ready for that contest And depending on the severity of his injury Curry s series could be over That would likely ultimately mean another appearance in the West Finals for Minnesota regardless of how poorly it played Tuesday But if Curry is able to return at chosen point in the series Minnesota will rue its inexcusable performance in front of a riled up home crowd Golden State was less than hours removed from a Battle triumph in Houston that wrapped a grueling two-week battle Minnesota had five days ahead of Match You never would ve known that judging off the performances of the two teams For the meeting Minnesota went for from the field including for from distance Anthony Edwards was particularly bad The star guard didn t play with any force or purpose and was shut out until he in the end made a free throw midway through the third frame Hield led Golden State with points while Draymond Green had and Butler had points rebounds and eight assists