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

[AbeVigodaLive]

For you or anyone else that knows, what's the background story behind this chant?

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It's rumored Jimmy had sex with her during the bubble. There's a famous interview of her interviewing Jimmy during the bubble that added more fuel to the fire. Supposedly the room Jimmy was in was very loud during the bubble run thanks to Rachel. And yes, she was married during that time.

Thank you, sir.

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That might be part of the Butler/Nichols thing... but not the reason Timberwolves fans chant Rachel Nichols:

It wasn't just that Bulter asked to be traded. It was that he orchestrated his exit with Nichols' help. He was disingenuous about it. He did it all to benefit Jimmy Butler.

- Butler brought in an ESPN crew (led by Rachel Nichols) to discuss his demands to be traded. The entire charade... including the famous practice where he called out Towns and Wiggins... was orchestrated for his own PR purposes. The practice happened as the ESPN crew was already on its way to MN for the interview. That wasn't a coincidence. LOL.

Nichols and ESPN were the TMZ-style pawns in Butler's grand scheme. In the end, Butler got what he wanted (yet again)... he got traded. By then, it was too late for Minnesota. The team, coming off its first winning season in 13 years, was 4 - 9 in large part because of the drama and because a healthy Butler randomly sat out games. The return of Dario Saric and Robert Covington (and no #1 picks) was laughably bad.

In the end, everyone for the Wolves got canned. Even Wiggins and Towns were traded. Nobody is left with the Wolves who was there at the time.

But...Timberwolves fans were the ones who got screwed over, too. And they're still around. And they remember all of his antics.




[Summary: The trade request wasn't really about Towns/Wiggins not being ready to win. That's where Butler was disingenuous. It was ... wait for it... 100% ABOUT MONEY! NBA rules prevented the Wolves from extending Butler for the max... unless they started trading guys left and right off of the first playoff team since 2004. Butler was too impatient to wait until summer, so he pulled the Rachel Nichols stunt and blamed it on losers like Wiggins and Towns.]

[Talbot44]

I don't agree with this scouting report at all.
The Wolves have just as many BIG perimeter defenders: Jaden, NAW, Ant (and they can dust off Jaylen Clark or TSJ if they needed them for some reason). One of our main defensive strengths over 2 seasons has been ball pressure. Behind that ball pressure we have better rim protection. We don't have Amen Thompson, but Ant is a shot blocking athlete and Jaden is 6'10" and one of the very best ball hawks in the league. What specifically do you see Houston having that the Wolves don't, defensively?

I think the Rockets and Wolves are similar, except the Wolves can actually play some offense. We don't have the same offensive rebounding super power, but we have a super functional offense.
The main tools we have that the Rockets didn't are:
- Elite 3-point shooting. Top 5 in attempts and efficiency. If you want to pack the paint, we're excited to shoot open threes.
- We're not 3-point reliant. While we're willing to bomb 3s, our identity is a driving team. We shot poorly from 3 against the Lakers and still murdered them.
- An all-star scorer that can break down the defense and score at 3 levels. Ant is going to be a more complicated problem for the Warriors than Sengun (or Jalen Green?) was. Ant can shoot pull up 3s, so you have to pressure the ball. Ant can drive, and the Warriors are small and thin on the perimeter (who is even going to be Ant's primary defender?). The Warriors have Draymond, who's a better rim protector than anyone on the Lakers, but they're still a tiny team of shorties going up against an athletic guard and a frontcourt where all 3 players are taller than the Warriors tallest starter.

The size is a bit crazy in this one. Draymond is bigger than his height (only 6'5.75" but with a 7'1" wingspan), which gives him similar dimension to Julius Randle (6'7.75 with a 7'0" winspan). The problem is, Julius is the Wolves 3rd tallest starter. Jaden is 6'9" with a 6'11" winspan, while Rudy is 7'1" with a 7'8" winspan. Butler is a quarter inch taller than Draymond (still shorter than Randle), but only has a 6'7.5" winspan. There's no relief in the backccourt where Curry and Podz have to match up against Ant/NAW/DDV. Conley is the only smaller player.

The Warriors have a problem where they can't put size on the floor without losing all spacing. Since Dray/Jimmy are already undersized and can't shoot, Quentin Post is the only viable way to size up in the frontcourt. They'd love to be able to play more Looney, but it too often means 3 non-shooters on the court. The Wolves play constant 2-big lineups without being short on spacing or matchup versatility.

The Warriors are better defensively than the Lakers, but even smaller and more vulnerable on the boards. We just watched them go to 7 games because Houston could simply grab 31% of their own misses.

Can you explain what about the Warriors is "tailored for a Minn style lineup"? To me, the Wolves come into this series with glaring advantages, and the Warriors will need to be crafty to make this a series.

We'll check back in a few weeks. The rim protection for the Wolves isnt useful vs a team that doesnt need layups. Rudy will get played off the floor and then the rim protection is gone and youre going to have bigger, slower players vs smaller, quicker ones. Jimmy with no Gobert is going to park at the rim and not move. Its an awful matchup for the wolves, as were the Rockets actually.

On offense, the Warriors will force Randle to be the focal point as he is inclined to turn the ball over, let Ant get his with some difficulty and play tough on the other contributors. A much better offense than the Rockets but an inexperienced one aside from Conley who may be really important for their teams offensive cohesion this series.

That's an overly simplistic view of rim protection. The point of Rudy isn't simply to stop dunks and layups. He's stops good shots all over the floor. I don't know if you watched the Laker series, but all the Lakers constantly tried to attack Rudy and failed miserably. He's simply a very tall obstacle who moves around well enough to be a problem in every kind of play stype. Rudy Gobert has never been played off the floor defensively. That a thoroughly debunked idea. He can be neutralized offensively, and the Wolves like the offensive firepower of the Naz/Randle frontcourts, so if Rudy isn't providing enough positive impact, we aren't reliant on him as much this year.

The Wolves aren't that slow, so the Warriors are more smaller than they are quicker. Where do you see the Warriors having a quickness advantage? The statement you made about Jimmy "parking at the rim" seems insane. The guy is smaller than almost everyone will defend him. He plays the 4/5 for the Warriors. He's going to be guarded exclusively by big 6'8"+ guys. Jimmy is strong and crafty and just plain good, but he's not going to be physically overwhelming unless he can magically draw Conley 20x per game.

Julius Randle hasn't been turnover prone in his role in the Wolves offense. This talking point seems 1-2 years out of date, unless he regresses somehow.

Anything can happen on a basketball court, but we don't know what "will" happen, and you keep using that word. You're describing what the Warriors will probably try to accomplish, which is always useful and fun at the outset of a series. Both teams will try things and fail or succeed at them. All we can do as fan analysts is try to project potential advantages and disadvantages. I don't know the Wolves will win, I just describe the possibilities I can see. That's all any of us can do.

It's fine being optimistic about how Golden State could execute a game plan. You aren't acknowledging some obvious advantages on the other side.

Apples and oranges but he did kinda get played off the floor defensively at the Olympics. Gave up a couple shots and defensive rebounds and got benched for most of the 4th in the gold medal game.

[cupcakesnake]

Why would you think that.


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Because they were +9 and had a ridiculous record post Jimmy trade and Minnesota was the same team all year and was about a +5. Seems like people are acting like Minnesota facing a Lakers team that was +3 post-Luka trade and had JJ melting down is the same as Golden State facing a +5 Rockets team with the best coach in the league that can create specific matchup problems with a ridiculously well thought out scheme.

Wolves were definitely not the same team all year...Wolves were a 0.500 team until like mid-January (W/L record was 22-21 during middle of January)..they struggled in first half of season with incorporating Randle into offense and few other issues...but from January onwards, they started playing lot better. then they finished the 2nd half of the season extremely strong (27-12). They had the 2nd best Net rating in the West across entire season. Problem was that they lost lot of close games...their actual performance was better than their record.

Pretty negligible difference between the Wolves and Warriors from the time of the Jimmy trade. Warriors were +9.6 (31 games post Jimmy trade) and Wolves were +8.5 over their final 40. Both played easy schedules down the stretch, but the Warriors was even easier than the numbers due to a crazy stretch where any time they played a good team, the opponent sat their star/stars.

You can't just take the Warriors best stretch and compare it to the Wolves whole season. The Wolves started badly, had some mid-season injuries where they started establishing their identity, and then a pretty monster blitz of the league over the final 30ish games.

Wolves a +8 team the whole second half, and the Warriors are a +9 team their final 30 games. Calling us +5 means the Warriors are +3. Want to focus on the Warriors best stretch, then do the same for the Wolves.

Comparing the Lakers and Rockets by saying everything bad about the Lakers and everything good about the Rockets seems a little biased. Lakers were widely picked to beat the Wolves. Golden State was widely picked to beat the Rockets. Houston had some serious low hanging fruit to attack offensively. The Warriors unique defense was only really tested on the boards, because it's not a crazy accomplishment to guard a Sengun/FVV led offense surrounded by several bad shooters. I'm not sure how proud Golden State fans should be of this series win in 7, but I picked the Rockets, so I think it's pretty cool. I think the Warriors are like a better version of the Lakers and will be a tougher matchup for the Wolves.

[nitric0]

FWIW Warriors rae 3-1 against the Timberwolves and that's all without Jimmy.

[Optms]

FWIW Warriors rae 3-1 against the Timberwolves and that's all without Jimmy.

No point in explaining that.

Dubs are the second best team remaining in the West. They will all find out soon.

[DB23]

Because they were +9 and had a ridiculous record post Jimmy trade and Minnesota was the same team all year and was about a +5. Seems like people are acting like Minnesota facing a Lakers team that was +3 post-Luka trade and had JJ melting down is the same as Golden State facing a +5 Rockets team with the best coach in the league that can create specific matchup problems with a ridiculously well thought out scheme.

Wolves were definitely not the same team all year...Wolves were a 0.500 team until like mid-January (W/L record was 22-21 during middle of January)..they struggled in first half of season with incorporating Randle into offense and few other issues...but from January onwards, they started playing lot better. then they finished the 2nd half of the season extremely strong (27-12). They had the 2nd best Net rating in the West across entire season. Problem was that they lost lot of close games...their actual performance was better than their record.

Pretty negligible difference between the Wolves and Warriors from the time of the Jimmy trade. Warriors were +9.6 (31 games post Jimmy trade) and Wolves were +8.5 over their final 40. Both played easy schedules down the stretch, but the Warriors was even easier than the numbers due to a crazy stretch where any time they played a good team, the opponent sat their star/stars.

You can't just take the Warriors best stretch and compare it to the Wolves whole season. The Wolves started badly, had some mid-season injuries where they started establishing their identity, and then a pretty monster blitz of the league over the final 30ish games.

Wolves a +8 team the whole second half, and the Warriors are a +9 team their final 30 games. Calling us +5 means the Warriors are +3. Want to focus on the Warriors best stretch, then do the same for the Wolves.

Comparing the Lakers and Rockets by saying everything bad about the Lakers and everything good about the Rockets seems a little biased. Lakers were widely picked to beat the Wolves. Golden State was widely picked to beat the Rockets. Houston had some serious low hanging fruit to attack offensively. The Warriors unique defense was only really tested on the boards, because it's not a crazy accomplishment to guard a Sengun/FVV led offense surrounded by several bad shooters. I'm not sure how proud Golden State fans should be of this series win in 7, but I picked the Rockets, so I think it's pretty cool. I think the Warriors are like a better version of the Lakers and will be a tougher matchup for the Wolves.

Ultimately, whilst we were lucky to get out of the rockets series I do believe we were a fair amount better than them. Thing is, this team has always played with it’s food. Especially this season. They got up 3-1 and coasted, they knew they were better.

Ultimately I think the teams are close and it probably comes down to 1-2 big role player games like the hield one we just had. Dubs need one of podz, hield or moody to play well on any given night to be in with a chance. Then just hope experience gets them through.

[Admiral-Kizaru]

Draymond Via Kimura in round 6.

[moss_is_1]

FWIW Warriors rae 3-1 against the Timberwolves and that's all without Jimmy.

Suns were 4-0 against the Wolves last year.

[Twinkie defense]

Randle gonna be a bull. Who the hell on this Warriors team can stop him? Lol

Randle is mid.

[MNRunLeft]

Ultimately I think the teams are close and it probably comes down to 1-2 big role player games like the hield one we just had. Dubs need one of podz, hield or moody to play well on any given night to be in with a chance. Then just hope experience gets them through.

The role player argument can be said for both teams, both team have players who will likely get their numbers on offense in Curry/Ant and to a lesser extent Jimmy/Randle. Both teams have defensive players who can score at times in Dray/Rudy but not going to be hunting for shots. Jaden is potentially the biggest swing player in the series due to his defense and flashes on offense. Then role players the Warriors hope Podz, Hield, Moody shoot a higher % than Naz Reid, DDV, Conley, NAW. The Wolves have more depth in the role player department imo and as a result more options to find someone who's hot on a given night.

[Twinkie defense]

Steph won’t do anything against Minnesota.

Bookmarked.

[DB23]

Ultimately I think the teams are close and it probably comes down to 1-2 big role player games like the hield one we just had. Dubs need one of podz, hield or moody to play well on any given night to be in with a chance. Then just hope experience gets them through.

The role player argument can be said for both teams, both team have players who will likely get their numbers on offense in Curry/Ant and to a lesser extent Jimmy/Randle. Both teams have defensive players who can score at times in Dray/Rudy but not going to be hunting for shots. Jaden is potentially the biggest swing player in the series due to his defense and flashes on offense. Then role players the Warriors hope Podz, Hield, Moody shoot a higher % than Naz Reid, DDV, Conley, NAW. The Wolves have more depth in the role player department imo and as a result more options to find someone who's hot on a given night.

Yeah for sure, was just giving the dubs perspective cause that’s who I’m going for!

[jg77]

The warriors had a hard time putting away jalen green and dillon brooks..now replace those two with ant and mcdaniels. The wolves are much much better on the perimeter than houston.

What did Jalen Green do last series?

[Twinkie defense]

The Wolves are more rested, deeper, bigger, younger, [and] have home court advantage.

Sounds like the Rockets!

[Castle Black]

Read on Twitter

[Twinkie defense]

Gobert’s perimeter defense is always underrated.

I always remember Gobert playing drop coverage, has that changed?

[therealbig3]

Warriors are a much better team than their record shows, as obnoxious as Butler is, he makes every team a lot better, and they've been amazing since adding him.

I think Warriors win this series pretty handily, only to lose to the Thunder in the next round.

[ShootersShoot]

The warriors had a hard time putting away jalen green and dillon brooks..now replace those two with ant and mcdaniels. The wolves are much much better on the perimeter than houston.

What did Jalen Green do last series?

Yea thats the point..he didnt do much of anything and they still took it to 7...

[thinktank]

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.

Lakers are locked into 3rd with easy matchups remaining

You were already wrong once so…

That had to do with pre-playoff seeding. I did think the Lakers would win due to certain factors.. but I discounted how awful a coach Redick is currently.

You’re bargaining.

No amount of coaching would have saved your team.

[jg77]

The warriors had a hard time putting away jalen green and dillon brooks..now replace those two with ant and mcdaniels. The wolves are much much better on the perimeter than houston.

What did Jalen Green do last series?

Yea thats the point..he didnt do much of anything and they still took it to 7...

Jimmy was hobbled and Amen is really good. Houston was the 2 seed after all.