2025 NBA PLAYOFFS West Semifinals: #6 Minnesota Timberwolves vs #7 Golden State Warriors (GSW leads 1-0)

Zvaart · Post #1141 » by **Zvaart** » Wed May 7, 2025 1:16 pm

Zeno wrote:Listening to Shaq is like getting into a cultural Time Machine. Some real caveman talk with this man up garbage

and what do you want instead? cry? feel offended? it's a competitive sport, of course you should toughen up.

Sealab2024 · Post #1142 » by **Sealab2024** » Wed May 7, 2025 1:16 pm

TimberKat wrote:
Sealab2024 wrote:Timberwolves need to be careful with this. There's a large Scandinavian population up here and we're pretty bad with the spooks and spirits. Shooting 15% from 3 looks an awful lot like the gods have been angered. If it continues goats may have to be sacrificed.

Looks like we did sacrificed a GOAT but that didn't break the voodoo, still can't buy a basket.

Lol.

playoffs · Post #1143 » by **playoffs** » Wed May 7, 2025 1:17 pm

After the Houston series, GS are just happy to be able to get defensive rebounds again. Forgot what it feels like.

Post #1144 » by **HMFFL** » Wed May 7, 2025 1:33 pm

Golden State had 51 rebounds, Minnesota had 41.

ANT leading the team in rebounds with 14? Where is Randle and Jaden McDaniels?

Golbert, Randle, and McDaniel need to wake up. Pathetic!

3-point Shooting:
Golden State 18-42 (43%)
Minnesota 5-29 (17%)

Randle and McDaniel go 0-6 from three. Rebounding?

Sent from my SM-S928U1 using RealGM mobile app

Revived · Post #1145 » by **Revived** » Wed May 7, 2025 1:47 pm

Spoiler:

For the first time ever, Warriors finally have some likable players (at least to non-Warriors fans) besides Steph Curry.

cgf · Post #1146 » by **cgf** » Wed May 7, 2025 1:52 pm

HMFFL wrote:Golden State had 51 rebounds, Minnesota had 41.

ANT leading the team in rebounds with 14? Where is Randle and Jaden McDaniels?

Golbert, Randle, and McDaniel need to wake up. Pathetic!

3-point Shooting:
Golden State 18-42 (43%)
Minnesota 5-29 (17%)

Randle and McDaniel go 0-6 from three. Rebounding?

Sent from my SM-S928U1 using RealGM mobile app

Just an absolute dud all around from the Wolves. One you just throw out the footage and start over, after. But the series is young, unlike the warriors.

TheGeneral99 · Post #1147 » by **TheGeneral99** » Wed May 7, 2025 1:55 pm

Really **** sucks if Curry is out this series...this may have been his last chance to go for a ring.

Potential · Post #1148 » by **Potential** » Wed May 7, 2025 2:03 pm

Optms wrote:
Potential wrote:The Warriors look unbeatable no matter who's playing. I don't think anyone can beat them even if Steph doesn't play another game this year. But he'll definitely be back next game. Denver and OKC playing to see who will get destroyed next round. It's over for the league unless Boston can get their **** together especially Porzingis. Crazy how Jimmy wins a ring 4 months after leaving Miami

Celtics were the only team that could slow down the Dubs. I've been saying it since Butler got there. They look like the dynasty Warriors. Chemistry through the roof. The old Steph returned. Dray playing DPOY level basketball. Butler is basically Klay only better.

So much for the Wolves. No matter who they play, they make their opponents look bad.

And their role players look unstoppable AND they have the most elite defense in the league, on top of having Steph and Butler. The definition of a complete championship team

Mamba Mentality · Post #1149 » by **Mamba Mentality** » Wed May 7, 2025 2:27 pm

I don't think there is much you can take away from game 1, it was about as bizarre of a NBA game as I've watched all season. Draymond Green had more threes than all of Minnesota through 3 quarters and quite literally carried the Warriors offense for a stretch, Hield led all scorers for the second straight game, Ant didn't make a single fg in the first half and played like he was shell shocked...I'll gladly eat crow if any of that repeats itself. It was the perfect storm for the Warriors to weather a major injury.

Finch will have a much easier time gameplanning for the Warriors without Curry. They'll find a way to break the Warriors zone and hit a lot of the open shots they missed in game 1. Right now they're favored by 10, I think they'll comfortably cover that.

Way too many overreactions in this thread. I still don't see a Finals team when I look at this Warriors roster.

Post #1150 » by **cupcakesnake** » Wed May 7, 2025 2:32 pm

Call me a salty fan after a bad loss, but I'm pretty annoyed reading all these takes trying to analyze the series based off this chaotic game 1.

Game 1 was complete random chaos, and despite one team getting a win, I think this was bad for both teams on several levels.

- The Warriors lost Steph Curry, possibly for multiple games. That is the most brutal thing that could have happened in game 1 for the Warriors. Obviously they stole game 1, stole homecourt advantage... that's a big deal and gives them a serious foothold in this series. Sometimes you win in weird ways and you take it. But man to lose Curry, and win in a way where much does not feel replicatable, I'm a little shocked to people being like "wow the Warriors are going to the finals".

- Despite an inconsistent defensive effort from the Wolves, the Warriors offense did not work. They built their big lead in the 2nd quarter by Draymond Green hitting 4 threes! Draymond scored over half their points in the quarter. That's not a thing the Warriors can lean on. Jimmy Butler also struggled with the length of the Wolves. Buddy Hield being backup Steph Curry really worked though. Putting Buddy in the same aggressive movement shooting sets they run for Steph is something they can absolutely lean on. Wolves will try to target Buddy better in game 2, but he's going to be a problem in this offense. If I'm a Warriors fan, I don't come away from this game being like: yeah we can totally do something like this 3 more times. Warriors will need to establish Jimmy in game 2.

- The Wolves, a top 5 3pt shooting team in the regular season, didn't hit a 3 in the first half. 0 for 15. I'll credit the Warriors for speeding the Wolves up, but this was like... 2018 Houston type of bball voodoo. When the Wolves shoot average from 3 (like they did in the second half), they're fine against the Warriors defense.

- On the Wolves side...we're now shooting 30% on threes in the playoffs. The drive and kick machine is still functional, but at some point you have to start knocking down looks. Also the defense was super inconsistent in this one. Anthony Edwards sulked like Embiid after a cold shooting start, but did bounce back in the second half with 22 points. We need Ant to be our main pressure point, and that means drive the damn ball and kick when they overload you.

Last night was pretty depressing to watch, but it also felt so crazy that I'm not going to overreact to it. The Wolves are capable of th

AbeVigodaLive · Post #1151 » by **AbeVigodaLive** » Wed May 7, 2025 2:45 pm

Dug Kerr's coaching in this one.

In a heated atmosphere full of excited fans in anticipation... the game started late. Then, it had two extended delays in the first 2+ minutes. Suddenly, that energy was lost... or even misplaced. So Kerr leaned in.

I think it's part of the reason so many Warriors played. 9 played in the 1st quarter... before Curry was injured. That's definitely an NBA playoff anomaly. I think all the lineups helped disrupt the Wolves from getting any momentum... or more importantly, even any flow.

It was a weird game for so many reasons... and the underdog (and undermanned) Warriors have more to gain in that environment. Kerr was part of the reason for that.

Players >>> coaches in the NBA. But every once in awhile, I'm reminded about how coaching can play a part. Kerr showed why he's a HOF coach.

Kobe187 · Post #1152 » by **Kobe187** » Wed May 7, 2025 2:46 pm

Warriors Defence is excellent, heck of a job by Draymond & Butler leading the way.

Mamba Mentality · Post #1153 » by **Mamba Mentality** » Wed May 7, 2025 3:01 pm

Buddy is shooting 46% from three in the playoffs. I think it's safe to assume that there is going to be some regression to the mean. Wolves need to force him to put the ball on the deck, that rarely ever ends well.

AbeVigodaLive · Post #1154 » by **AbeVigodaLive** » Wed May 7, 2025 3:17 pm

Mamba Mentality wrote:Buddy is shooting 46% from three in the playoffs. I think it's safe to assume that there is going to be some regression to the mean. Wolves need to force him to put the ball on the deck, that rarely ever ends well.

14 - 19 in the past two games...

To your point... he was 5 - 8 on threes but only 2 - 11 on two pointers yesterday.

___Rand___ · Post #1155 » by **___Rand___** » Wed May 7, 2025 3:24 pm

Twolves just weren't focused properly from the start, and strangely never got going in the 2nd half either. They should still win if they can find their form from the prior series. If they don't, well then, they deserve to lose. Now I understand WHY their regular season record was worse than I would have expected. Having better talent is one thing. It's manifestation is another.

tamaraw08 · Post #1156 » by **tamaraw08** » Wed May 7, 2025 3:24 pm

Mamba Mentality wrote:I don't think there is much you can take away from game 1, it was about as bizarre of a NBA game as I've watched all season. Draymond Green had more threes than all of Minnesota through 3 quarters and quite literally carried the Warriors offense for a stretch, Hield led all scorers for the second straight game, Ant didn't make a single fg in the first half and played like he was shell shocked...I'll gladly eat crow if any of that repeats itself. It was the perfect storm for the Warriors to weather a major injury.

Finch will have a much easier time gameplanning for the Warriors without Curry. They'll find a way to break the Warriors zone and hit a lot of the open shots they missed in game 1. Right now they're favored by 10, I think they'll comfortably cover that.

Way too many overreactions in this thread. I still don't see a Finals team when I look at this Warriors roster.

I will not be surprised if Curry doesn't play for 2+ games and TWolves take the series and ESPN and some fanatics here would hail Ant Edwards as the Kings Slayer, Chef Killer etc etc even if he average 18 pts at 42% FG%. :roll:

Wolfgang630 · Post #1157 » by **Wolfgang630** » Wed May 7, 2025 3:28 pm

The coach has to call out Ant

Kobe187 · Post #1158 » by **Kobe187** » Wed May 7, 2025 3:28 pm

tamaraw08 wrote:
Mamba Mentality wrote:I don't think there is much you can take away from game 1, it was about as bizarre of a NBA game as I've watched all season. Draymond Green had more threes than all of Minnesota through 3 quarters and quite literally carried the Warriors offense for a stretch, Hield led all scorers for the second straight game, Ant didn't make a single fg in the first half and played like he was shell shocked...I'll gladly eat crow if any of that repeats itself. It was the perfect storm for the Warriors to weather a major injury.

Finch will have a much easier time gameplanning for the Warriors without Curry. They'll find a way to break the Warriors zone and hit a lot of the open shots they missed in game 1. Right now they're favored by 10, I think they'll comfortably cover that.

Way too many overreactions in this thread. I still don't see a Finals team when I look at this Warriors roster.

I will not be surprised if Curry doesn't play for 2+ games and TWolves take the series and ESPN and some fanatics here would hail Ant Edwards as the Kings Slayer, Chef Killer etc etc even if he average 18 pts at 42% FG%.

Think Curry’s back for game 3 (possibly game 2), seemed like a mild hamstring issue, was testing it out on the sidelines before going into the locker room, didn’t seem too serious.

Kobe187 · Post #1159 » by **Kobe187** » Wed May 7, 2025 3:30 pm

Wolfgang630 wrote:The coach has to call out Ant

He had Jimmy freakin Butler glued to him, did a pretty good job considering that. Butler shutdown Edwards, Draymond shutdown Randle, Warriors D was just too good, they cruised through game 1.

Wolfgang630 · Post #1160 » by **Wolfgang630** » Wed May 7, 2025 3:34 pm

Kobe187 wrote:
Wolfgang630 wrote:The coach has to call out Ant

He had Jimmy freakin Butler glued to him, did a pretty good job considering that. Butler shutdown Edwards, Draymond shutdown Randle, Warriors D was just too good, they cruised through game 1.

It shouldn’t be that easy to shut down the new face of the NBA

Who wins and goes to the WCF's?