2025 NBA PLAYOFFS West Semifinals: #6 Minnesota Timberwolves vs #7 Golden State Warriors (MIN leads 2-1)

[whocurrz]

Kerr should have had a looser rotation last series to get Kuminga, Jackson-Davis more reps, and maybe Curry wouldn’t be injured.

Randle as a skilled veteran big is the big problem for the Warriors.

We need everyone t play well when Curry is out and Podz alone sinks us if he isnt playing well.

Beating Minny without Curry is a tough order.

I’ve been beating that horse to death for several years. It is the most craziest thing I’ve ever seen. Not only did Kuminga come in cold in the playoffs, he also doesn’t have the chemistry built up. These plays where there is miscommunication is due to not playing together.

Kerr crapped the bed by not developing JK for whatever reason. What a waste of the team’s time, JK’s time, and the fan’s time by not getting the most talented of their younger prospects the opportunity to be free to play his game. Mark Jackson let the young Warriors developed their sense of self, so they were ready when the time to take the next step.

Kuminga's injury was uniquely poorly timed. He hadn't fully established himself in the pecking order and then came back when a post Butler trade rotation had been established. I watched a few of those games before he went down and he was... well, like what we saw tonight.

Yeah we were rolling when Jimmy arrived, his fit with Jimmy is tough since JK needs to also play 4 and neither can be a 5 and JK was also kinda playing for his personal gain and next contract rather than just putting the team success first and we were playing high stakes games every day. Honestly just terrible timing to get injured while playing great ball and Jimmy arriving who is better

I think something happened behind the scenes the last 2 weeks of the regular season especially given Jimmy’s constant quotes about Having a great Batman and everyone else needing to fall in line. But it’s also true if Kerr had properly developed JK and Moody in previous seasons then they wouldn’t feel confusion about their role and opportunities and we’d be in a better situation.

[Jellybeans]

So when Stef comes back will Kuminga again will get benched and wont see a single minute?

[Ice Man]

Last night's game was an example of how a team's worst players can affect a game more than its best players. The Warriors more than held their own at the top of the pyramid, with Butler/Kuminga scoring 63 points on 46 shots, as opposed to Ant/Randle recording 60 points on 51 shots. So far, so good for the Dubs.

But the two lowest scoring starters for Minnie (Conley and Gobert) had 16 points on 13 shots, while Podz and Draymond had 7 points on 14 shots. Their ineptitude was the main problem for the Warriors.

[Michael Jackson]

I’ve been beating that horse to death for several years. It is the most craziest thing I’ve ever seen. Not only did Kuminga come in cold in the playoffs, he also doesn’t have the chemistry built up. These plays where there is miscommunication is due to not playing together.

Kerr crapped the bed by not developing JK for whatever reason. What a waste of the team’s time, JK’s time, and the fan’s time by not getting the most talented of their younger prospects the opportunity to be free to play his game. Mark Jackson let the young Warriors developed their sense of self, so they were ready when the time to take the next step.

Kuminga's injury was uniquely poorly timed. He hadn't fully established himself in the pecking order and then came back when a post Butler trade rotation had been established. I watched a few of those games before he went down and he was... well, like what we saw tonight.

Yeah we were rolling when Jimmy arrived, his fit with Jimmy is tough since JK needs to also play 4 and neither can be a 5 and JK was also kinda playing for his personal gain and next contract rather than just putting the team success first and we were playing high stakes games every day. Honestly just terrible timing to get injured while playing great ball and Jimmy arriving who is better

I think something happened behind the scenes the last 2 weeks of the regular season especially given Jimmy’s constant quotes about Having a great Batman and everyone else needing to fall in line. But it’s also true if Kerr had properly developed JK and Moody in previous seasons then they wouldn’t feel confusion about their role and opportunities and we’d be in a better situation.

With Kuminga being RFA at the very least he is upping what GSW can get in return over the summer. Some team will overpay him salary wise and trade wise for him now. Kerr really doesn’t like him it seems.

[NiceLikeChrist]

Randle is too big, strong, and not to be messed with for Draymond to get into his head with the antics. Saw so many times Randle made him look like a little kid tryna bang with him.

[Wolfgang630]

So when Stef comes back will Kuminga again will get benched and wont see a single minute?

Well no guarantee when Steph comes back this series is still going.

[jscott]

Wolves can win without him though

Weird time to bust this one out after almost losing to the Curry-less Warriors. Steph was torching the Wolves before he went out, it'd easily be 2-1 if not 3-0. Plus there's not even one Wolve from that team playing for the Wolves anymore.

It was a weird time to demand a contract extension that wasn’t possible too. Jimmy Butler is a **** idiot.

If he wasn’t a **** punk ducking the team every time they played, we could have had this conversation earlier. He’s a clown.

[firedavidkahn]

Read on Twitter

[firedavidkahn]

This is insane given our clutch woes during the regular season

Read on Twitter

[Jta444]

I see a lot of disrespect going on around here about Jimmy Butler. Ant is still a long ways to go before he catches up to Butler. Remember this guy led his team to two Finals appearances, and he took close to peak Lebron and peak AD to 6 games.

And Steph ofc is a top 10 player. Ant isn’t even top 75 all time yet.

[f4p]

Edwards will be entering the START of his prime in 3 years.

Can we slow down on judging him as a finished product?

Well, his prime has started now. 22 or 23 is pretty typical. Maybe his absolute peak will start at 26 or 27 and last for a few years, but this should be his prime right now.

[cupcakesnake]

Wolves can win without him though

Weird time to bust this one out after almost losing to the Curry-less Warriors. Steph was torching the Wolves before he went out, it'd easily be 2-1 if not 3-0. Plus there's not even one Wolve from that team playing for the Wolves anymore.

I'd much rather beat this team with Curry playing, but he's injured and all we can do now is beat Jimmy.

Don't play the "Steph was torching the Wolves before he went out" card unless you're ready to agree with San Antonio fans that Kawhi was going to sweep you in 2017, if you know what I mean? 13 minutes doesn't give us something to project in a series. Draymond went 4-5 from 3 during that span. Had he gotten hurt, would you be telling me Draymond was going to go 32-40 from 3 in a quick sweep? We came to this series with defensive resources to throw at Steph, but obviously Steph is a transformative offensive player and especially on this roster he's the be all end all. He's also 37 and being asked to play a massive role for a deep playoff run.

I'm not happy about the Steph injury at all. I was excited for this series and to get to watch Steph. Total bummer that he's out. Even purely from a Wolves perspective, if we win, nobody cares. If we lose, it will be humiliating. I'd much rather play (win or lose) the Warriors at full strength. I liked our advantages in this series when I project

[Black Jack]

So when Stef comes back will Kuminga again will get benched and wont see a single minute?

The second Curry's foot touches the court Jonathan Kuminga will vanish in a puff of Steve Kerr cigar smoke, like Keyser Soze. Poof! and he's gone!

We might hear rumors of him in the outer Mongolian league years later...but you will just never know....

[Black Jack]

Wolves can win without him though

Weird time to bust this one out after almost losing to the Curry-less Warriors. Steph was torching the Wolves before he went out, it'd easily be 2-1 if not 3-0. Plus there's not even one Wolve from that team playing for the Wolves anymore.

I'd much rather beat this team with Curry playing, but he's injured and all we can do now is beat Jimmy.

Don't play the "Steph was torching the Wolves before he went out" card unless you're ready to agree with San Antonio fans that Kawhi was going to sweep you in 2017, if you know what I mean? 13 minutes doesn't give us something to project in a series. Draymond went 4-5 from 3 during that span. Had he gotten hurt, would you be telling me Draymond was going to go 32-40 from 3 in a quick sweep? We came to this series with defensive resources to throw at Steph, but obviously Steph is a transformative offensive player and especially on this roster he's the be all end all. He's also 37 and being asked to play a massive role for a deep playoff run.

I'm not happy about the Steph injury at all. I was excited for this series and to get to watch Steph. Total bummer that he's out. Even purely from a Wolves perspective, if we win, nobody cares. If we lose, it will be humiliating. I'd much rather play (win or lose) the Warriors at full strength. I liked our advantages in this series when I project

Dubs fan here. I think the injury free Kawhi Spurs were going to probably beat the Dubs. I also think the Curry hamstring injury free Warriors were going to probably beat this year's TWolves.

I don't think Edwards has gotten over whatever mental struggles he is having and is fully unlocked, that's all. We saw him throw down a couple of monster jams but he was still struggling early and he doesn't know yet how to control games when his shot isn't falling...in my book.

[cupcakesnake]

Never understood why Kerr hates Kuminga. He's one of the most explosive offensive players in the NBA

The Warriors are built around players with very specific strengths and weaknesses. Especially in the frontcourt. Two high IQ, strong, wing-sized players that cant shoot are the backbone of this defense. It's been a challenge for Kerr to play almost any of his other frontcourt guys. It's not just Kuminga. We've seen Looney and Trayce also have their roles drastically reduced since the Jimmy trade and in the playoffs.

With Steph out, Kerr has had to embrace chaos and try more player combinations. He no longer has the option of putting out a lineup with normal spacing, so he focuses on defense while hoping they can scrap together enough points.

Kuminga is averaging 25mpg in this series after being benched against Houston. He has a pretty big green light in this desperate Stephless offense.

[SpreeChokeJob]

Kerr should have had a looser rotation last series to get Kuminga, Jackson-Davis more reps, and maybe Curry wouldn’t be injured.

Randle as a skilled veteran big is the big problem for the Warriors.

We need everyone t play well when Curry is out and Podz alone sinks us if he isnt playing well.

Beating Minny without Curry is a tough order.

I’ve been beating that horse to death for several years. It is the most craziest thing I’ve ever seen. Not only did Kuminga come in cold in the playoffs, he also doesn’t have the chemistry built up. These plays where there is miscommunication is due to not playing together.

Kerr crapped the bed by not developing JK for whatever reason. What a waste of the team’s time, JK’s time, and the fan’s time by not getting the most talented of their younger prospects the opportunity to be free to play his game. Mark Jackson let the young Warriors developed their sense of self, so they were ready when the time to take the next step.

In defence of Steve, since he came back from injury, GSW has been in must win all mode and kuminga has been playing badly since then and he also doesnot play well with Curry. Podz , post imprived thier play and he was benched.

Kerr’s been doing this for years now. He’s an ass. Any other player get benched for several weeks without any minutes at all, even garbage time. JK better be sleeping with Kerr’s wife otherwise the benching is inexplicable.

If bad play was a reason for benching they would shut down Podz and Moody for several weeks. And if it’s win only mode that JK didn’t get time, why is JK getting time now when it’s win only. Shouldn’t he be sitting on the bench, he might jeopardize Podz and Moody running Kerr’s motion offense.

Kerr get it through his thick skull, like Joe Pesci said in Casino, your system only exists because of me, not your f country clubs and tv shows. His system only exists because of Curry. Without Curry, it’s just a bunch of scrubs throwing the ball around and hurling bricks. Similar to what happened to Phil in NY without MJ, Shaq, Kobe, Pau.

[cupcakesnake]

Weird time to bust this one out after almost losing to the Curry-less Warriors. Steph was torching the Wolves before he went out, it'd easily be 2-1 if not 3-0. Plus there's not even one Wolve from that team playing for the Wolves anymore.

I'd much rather beat this team with Curry playing, but he's injured and all we can do now is beat Jimmy.

Don't play the "Steph was torching the Wolves before he went out" card unless you're ready to agree with San Antonio fans that Kawhi was going to sweep you in 2017, if you know what I mean? 13 minutes doesn't give us something to project in a series. Draymond went 4-5 from 3 during that span. Had he gotten hurt, would you be telling me Draymond was going to go 32-40 from 3 in a quick sweep? We came to this series with defensive resources to throw at Steph, but obviously Steph is a transformative offensive player and especially on this roster he's the be all end all. He's also 37 and being asked to play a massive role for a deep playoff run.

I'm not happy about the Steph injury at all. I was excited for this series and to get to watch Steph. Total bummer that he's out. Even purely from a Wolves perspective, if we win, nobody cares. If we lose, it will be humiliating. I'd much rather play (win or lose) the Warriors at full strength. I liked our advantages in this series when I project

Dubs fan here. I think the injury free Kawhi Spurs were going to probably beat the Dubs. I also think the Curry hamstring injury free Warriors were going to probably beat this year's TWolves.

I don't think Edwards has gotten over whatever mental struggles he is having and is fully unlocked, that's all. We saw him throw down a couple of monster jams but he was still struggling early and he doesn't know yet how to control games when his shot isn't falling...in my book.

I guess we'll never know. Either way, we can't use 1 half to project how any series will go. Kawhi might have destroyed the Warriors on some level, but that mega talented, deep team might still have found a way to win. Those Spurs had lots of weaknesses. Tony Parker was out, Manu and Pau were ancient. Steph is transformative, but the Wolves had lots of advantages in this series, Steph or no Steph.

I don't think it's mental struggles with Ant, though I agree he looks demoralized for much of the game.
It's less about what Ant is doing, and more about how the Warriors are defending him. Coming into these playoffs, Ant had established a really nice rhythm making passing reads off the drive when he draws help. He'd also gotten good at making the right read when teams show him help early. So the Warriors flip the script on him. They guard him 1-on-1 (preferably with GP2, but they don't overract when weaker defenders are on him), and instead of panicking about Ant's rim attacks, they help into his preferred passing lanes. Ant gets into the paint and tries to be a good boy and kick out to start the Wolves drive and kick machine, but all of a sudden the Warriors are specifically positioned to stop his playmaking.

This is why it's looked pretty feast or famine with Ant. He's either getting a really easy layup, or getting totally lost. It's also a pretty exhausting defensive scheme that requires a lot of focus, which is why we've seen Ant struggle early and score more easily as the game has gone on. Ant looks awful... but ends up finishing each game strong.

It's really cool defense by the Warriors and absolute psychological warfare on a young, dumb, talented player. If the Warriors were younger, it would work even better and they wouldn't be as gassed in the 4th. You need crazy smart, focused players to pull off complicated help schemes like this.

[SkyHook]

Think it would’ve made more sense to just run it back and instead of using 7 picks for Mikal, you just give up 2 for Kessler. Not a shot at KAT who’s a good player in his own right but Randle was just a better fit next to Brunson and his shot creation/playmaking is something our offense really misses.

I can't and couldn't get behind Kessler. I just don't like his face.

Miss America doesn't seem to mind.

[The Explorer]

Randle is too big, strong, and not to be messed with for Draymond to get into his head with the antics. Saw so many times Randle made him look like a little kid tryna bang with him.

Is Randle in the top 5 strongest players currently? Him and Adams have to be up there for sure. Green is strong too, Randle handling him inside is no joke.

[Howard Cosell]

Edwards will be entering the START of his prime in 3 years.

Can we slow down on judging him as a finished product?

Well, his prime has started now. 22 or 23 is pretty typical. Maybe his absolute peak will start at 26 or 27 and last for a few years, but this should be his prime right now.

How long have you been watching NBA? Name me how many 23 year olds or younger who leads their team to NBA championships. There is not many Magic Johnson’s around on this planet.

23 years old is not part of NBA players prime years. Athletic?….yes. But definitely not prime years in a career for All-NBA players. Not even close.