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

[floppymoose]

Charles Barkley has picked MIN in this matchup.

[Froob]

Warriors in 7….trust their shot making more in a close game

[giberish]

Truly hope Jaden and Randle carry over their level of play from round 1.

Randle's going to have a lot tougher time this series.

Jaden's going to be key for Minny. GS will have 2 of Curry/Podz/Heild on the court most of the game - so they'll frequently be trying to hide one on Jaden. He should be able to really take advantage of that matchup but if he can't or doesn't very often then I'd expect GS to win.

[Johnny Tomala]

Timberwolves in 6.

[firedavidkahn]

This is going to be the most toxic series in years.

Draymond hates Rudy
Jimmy Butler will FINALLY be forced to play at the Target Center (he has been ducking us for years)

Read on Twitter

Expect a few bench clearings in this series

[thinktank]

Yes, the point is on the "Drive and enthusiasm". Have you seen it with Wiseman?

Oh OK you didn't say that though, nice try. Let me know when you get to the Finals for the first time. And what happened to Kat, where did he go TimberKat?

Breathe. You took Wiseman and he sucks for the same reason your FO said they wouldn’t take Ant. It’s not anyone’s fault but GSW.

[thinktank]

This is going to be the most toxic series in years.

Draymond hates Rudy
Jimmy Butler will FINALLY be forced to play at the Target Center (he has been ducking us for years)

Read on Twitter

Expect a few bench clearings in this series

Wolves are the better, more athletic, deeper team.

I expect GSW to play dirty and try to sucker Wolves into techs, flagrant, and suspensions.

Wolves have to stay cool and win the game while the clock is running.

I think it’s the biggest factor in the series. Wolves must stay cool to win.

[cgf]

Wolves in 5 or 6. They’re just too big, too athletic, & too talented for these warriors. Tough to see either series out west being particularly close without an all time performance from one of the big names.

[SkyHook]

What are the odds that Donkey commits yet another sociopathic assault in this series? Even money?

[life_saver]

So far in Ant's era, Wolves have been underdogs in 5 series and favorites in just 1 series. This is just the 2nd series where Wolves will be the favorite. They surprisingly have a winning record in the series where they were underdogs (3-2) but lost the only series where they were the favorites.

[Lakers824]

What are the odds that Donkey commits yet another sociopathic assault in this series? Even money?

That moron will probably start with his thuggery and flopping from the opening minute of game 1.

[firedavidkahn]

Rachel Nichols!

Rachel Nichols!

Rachel Nichols!

[Jta444]

Jimmy is still not himself after that glute injury. If he doesn’t return to form, then I might lean Wolves. If Randle outplays him then it’s hard to see how Warriors would win.

[cupcakesnake]

Pretty sure GS won't be able to get away with the Curry/Podz/Heild PG/SG/SF lineup for big minutes against the Wolves. Figure 2 on the court at any time with Payton/Moodey/Butler at SF guarding Edwards.

Will still likely be trying to hide someone defensively on McDaniels. If he can abuse them it will be a major problem. If he's passive or missing a lot GS probably wins.

A big part of our offense, the whole second half of the season, was teams trying to hide someone defensively on McDaniels. His whole game this season is abusing "hidden" defenders with drives. He will absolutely abuse that, as he's been doing for months and months. Jaden was passive and inconsistent when his role was corner shooter. As a driver, the margin for error is different. He's less likely to go cold shooting when his shots are all inside 10 feet.

I think this is the first thing the Warriors have to figure out: perimeter matchups. Just like the Lakers, this team is small. They prefer to play Dray/Jimmy frontcourts with shooting around them. That's even smaller than the Lakers, though Draymond and Jimmy are miles better defensively than Lebron/Rui/Luka. If Draymond and Jimmy end up having their hands full keeping Rudy off the boards, and guarding Juju drives, it will be hard to help out on the perimeter matchups. Against Houston, GS opted to keep as much shooting on the floor as possible (Hield, Podz, Moody). There's just no way that works against Ant+Jaden+(Conley, DDV, NAW). I'm guessing Hield goes back to the bench in favor of Moodey. GP2 cramps their spacing to a dangerous extent, but I think the Dubs will need him.

As much as people point to the Wolves size advantage and imagine Gobert crashing the glass, the Warriors just survived a much better offensive rebounding attack in Steven Adams. They aren't going to be afraid of o-boards like the Lakers were. They're going to foul the crap out of Gobert, and no one gets away with more shoves than Draymond/Jimmy. Sengun was getting punched in the chest but only getting to the line a moderate amount. Gobert will go there even less. Gobert is taller/longer, but not as physically strong, so Dray/Jimmy regain the horizontal advantage they lost against Adam/Sengun.

It will be interesting to see how they'll guard Jaden. At first glance, the Warriors should have their hands full on the perimeter with Ant and co. + Jimmy has been tasked with defending the paint more than shutting down a matchup. I don't see the Warriors having the defensive resources to key on Jaden, but maybe they'll do something unexpected.

[Upperclass]

Warriors will have a MUCH easier time vs the Wolves. Aside from Ant, their athleticism is only strength and vertical.. the Rockets athleticism was lateral speed, strength and vertical.. the Warriors offense is tailored for a Minn style lineup vs a Rockets style lineup. Dubs vs OKC will go 7. OKC is part Houston, part Minn.

[Mavrelous]

So far in Ant's era, Wolves have been underdogs in 5 series and favorites in just 1 series. This is just the 2nd series where Wolves will be the favorite. They surprisingly have a winning record in the series where they were underdogs (3-2) but lost the only series where they were the favorites.

Suns were favored against the Wolves last year?

[Dainis]

Rudy vs Green is gonna be diabolical. Can't wait.

[California Gold]

X factor for the Wolves is Randle. If he plays like he did against the Lakers, it’ll be a short series. I honestly think the only way the Warriors win is if it does get to a 7th game. Wolves are slight favs at -162 for the series, I expect this to go 6 with the Wolves winning.

[jack612]

What are the odds that Donkey commits yet another sociopathic assault in this series? Even money?

100%. There is absolutely no way he doesn't at some point.

[life_saver]

So far in Ant's era, Wolves have been underdogs in 5 series and favorites in just 1 series. This is just the 2nd series where Wolves will be the favorite. They surprisingly have a winning record in the series where they were underdogs (3-2) but lost the only series where they were the favorites.

Suns were favored against the Wolves last year?

Yes, Suns were the favorites per Vegas...Suns swept Wolves in RS last year (4-0) & had KD whereas there were lot of questions on how the Wolves team would fare in postseason..especially after Suns blew them out during last game of RS