2025 NBA PLAYOFFS West Semifinals: #6 Minnesota Timberwolves vs #7 Golden State Warriors (Series tied 1-1)

[Sealab2024]

If the wolves win this because Steph is out I'm gonna hate it on multiple levels. First off I wanted Ant vs Steph. Second off it's gonna leave the Wolves soft going into the WCF. Third, in the long run it doesn't improve this squad. Even if they lost the series there's real lessons to be learned for a core that's only around 24 years old. Now there's none of that.

Except the Wolves are so weird, that for three years, they have been able to beat better teams, and continually lose to teams that are big underdogs. Maybe being professional and beating a de-fanged Warriors team is the experience they need?

That's a very good point actually. Didn't think of it that way but just grinding through doing things the right way when it's expected probably would do them some good.

[cgf]

If the wolves win this because Steph is out I'm gonna hate it on multiple levels. First off I wanted Ant vs Steph. Second off it's gonna leave the Wolves soft going into the WCF. Third, in the long run it doesn't improve this squad. Even if they lost the series there's real lessons to be learned for a core that's only around 24 years old. Now there's none of that.

They’re learning the importance of staying in shape.

They’re learning that you can’t play down to your competition.

They’re learning they have to keep it 100. We can only control ourselves.

Are they? Or are they learning that they can in fact play down to their competition and get away with it sometimes?

Wouldn't the Warriors need to pull off the upset, to teach you that lesson?

[cgf]

If the wolves win this because Steph is out I'm gonna hate it on multiple levels. First off I wanted Ant vs Steph. Second off it's gonna leave the Wolves soft going into the WCF. Third, in the long run it doesn't improve this squad. Even if they lost the series there's real lessons to be learned for a core that's only around 24 years old. Now there's none of that.

They’re learning the importance of staying in shape.

They’re learning that you can’t play down to your competition.

They’re learning they have to keep it 100. We can only control ourselves.

Fair enough. I just think there was great potential for a classic battle and without Steph, that's gone.

Steph is epic and Jimmy's the perfect #2 for him...though having two non-shooting non-PG playmakers in the lineup can make spacing awkward even when your PG is Steph...but I'm not sure how much you would have learned against them that you can't still learn from the tricks they try to pull to make a series of it even without Curry.

Draymond is just too old to make up for how much bigger & more athletic you are, even if you played dumb the entire series.

[GiannisAnte34]

Feel like GS splits at home even without Curry

Then they might get Curry back in g5, probably go down 2-3 and then have a chance at home to push it to g7

[thinktank]

If the wolves win this because Steph is out I'm gonna hate it on multiple levels. First off I wanted Ant vs Steph. Second off it's gonna leave the Wolves soft going into the WCF. Third, in the long run it doesn't improve this squad. Even if they lost the series there's real lessons to be learned for a core that's only around 24 years old. Now there's none of that.

They’re learning the importance of staying in shape.

They’re learning that you can’t play down to your competition.

They’re learning they have to keep it 100. We can only control ourselves.

Are they? Or are they learning that they can in fact play down to their competition and get away with it sometimes?

Wouldn't the Warriors need to pull off the upset, to teach you that lesson?

I see your point.

If we’re winning these games by 20 (like last night) I don’t see how that’s playing down to the competition, and hence, that would be a lesson learned also.

But again, and your hear coaches and players say this all the time, you can’t worry about that—you can o my worry about yourselves.

[DoctorX]

Well, he can be angry, and he is black . Guy knows exactly why everyone hates him, he can't be so dud in a head to not understand why he is hated. I still can't believe he has a podcast, who are the people who want to listen to him speak?

I would say the Warrior fan base are really the only ones who are listening to his podcast. Nobody outside of Warrior nation likes him.

i beg your pardon, sir. i am a dubs fan and i don't like him as a human being. Great player, though. hate his podcast.

and for the record, i don't think he is an angry black man, i just think he is a narcissistic idiot. He can pick his color for all that i care, it has nothing to do with it.

Prick.

I respect that you can be unbiased when it comes to being honest about him as a human being and not be a homer due to him playing on your team. I agree with you 100 percent that he is a narcissist. Him using the angry black man card shows how truly vile he is because he's trying to use the race card to cover up his bad behavior. I feel him using the race card to cover up his bad behavior is a slap in the face to minorities who are truly suffering from the effects of racism whether its from discrimination, hate crimes, police brutality, slander.

[Revived]

The man is 50.

You know Steph is older than him right? LeBron is like 5 years older than him. You can compare their numbers and efficiency in the playoffs vs Butler’s.

Even Kawhi (who averaged 25, 8 and 5 on 54% shooting from the field and 40% from 3 in the playoffs) is only a year younger than Butler.

Cant be that maybe he was taking advantage of playing weaker teams in the weaker conference huh?

Al Horford is even older, does that mean he was better in his prime?

Al Horford isn’t even being paid a quarter of what Jimmy’s being paid so no the expectations are different for him.

[cgf]

They’re learning the importance of staying in shape.

They’re learning that you can’t play down to your competition.

They’re learning they have to keep it 100. We can only control ourselves.

Are they? Or are they learning that they can in fact play down to their competition and get away with it sometimes?

Wouldn't the Warriors need to pull off the upset, to teach you that lesson?

I see your point.

If we’re winning these games by 20 (like last night) I don’t see how that’s playing down to the competition, and hence, that would be a lesson learned also.

But again, and your hear coaches and players say this all the time, you can’t worry about that—you can o my worry about yourselves.

That's true. But this is the 2nd series in a row where you've had one of those games where you just come out and played like absolute garbage. And you're going to get away with it. Spotting your opponent a game like that is a bad habit to have with a matchup with OKC on the horizon. Sure OKC will win some games even if beat them...but just giving away a game like that could tip the scales if you play your best.

Hopefully that's just because they don't feel seriously challenged by these Warriors in a way that they won't against OKC unless you go up 3-0

[whatisacenter]

Love my Warriors but I can’t stand Draymond.

Every once in a while I will be having a good day and then I remember he has two more years left on his contract.

[Revived]

Read on Twitter

This was funny. They should actually just do this till Steph is back.

[Revived]

Love my Warriors but I can’t stand Draymond.

Every once in a while I will be having a good day and then I remember he has two more years left on his contract.

Good on you for putting your values ahead of your fandom. But unfortunately a vast majority of your team’s fanbase doesn’t feel this same way. I visit bay area often and come across numerous Warriors fans and they all claim Draymond is a victim and misunderstood.

Warriors org, their fans and Adam Silver himself (begged Draymond to not retire when Draymond threatened to retire after facing punishment for the Nurkic punch or whatever it was) all enable the guy. Cant blame him entirely for the way he turned out.

All those people I mentioned play a role in a grown ass 34 year old man still acting unhinged.

[cgf]

You know Steph is older than him right? LeBron is like 5 years older than him. You can compare their numbers and efficiency in the playoffs vs Butler’s.

Even Kawhi (who averaged 25, 8 and 5 on 54% shooting from the field and 40% from 3 in the playoffs) is only a year younger than Butler.

Cant be that maybe he was taking advantage of playing weaker teams in the weaker conference huh?

Al Horford is even older, does that mean he was better in his prime?

Al Horford isn’t even being paid a quarter of what Jimmy’s being paid so no the expectations are different for him.

Different players age differently. You just can't judge someone's prime based on their moonlight years. Even before the trade this same Jimmy Butler was no longer a #1 option in the east. Does that mean that he wasn't even a #1 in the east in the past? Or should I say something equally silly like:

Jimmy's just as good as he's always been but he couldn't cut it in the rising east anymore, that's why he ran away to the mid West

Butler was a fantastic player for years, who could take over offensively whenever his team need him to but who could also impact games just with his cutting & playmaking. A player who would've been one of the greatest 1B's of all time if he had ever played with a better player in his prime. But he's not that guy anymore.

He wasn't last year, and the year before that he didn't have enough left in the tank to be that guy in the regular season...though he did still have enough left for a couple of playoff series worth of Himmy. The guy you're watching in the west now is still super crafty and a perfect fit next to steph...which is why I think he makes Draymond expendable for a better big...but this is far removed from the real Playoff Jimmy.

[cupcakesnake]

Steve Kerr: we are the best defense in the league we can beat anyone...then Wolves shooting 50/40 tonight...its so disappointing that the team stops playing D might as well play all bench.

The wolves are really good and just a brutal matchup for you, even if steph hadn't gone down. They are a lot dumber than you, but just so much bigger and more athletic. With that endless cycle of drivers leveraging that advantage to keep a defense under constant pressure. If they were also a high IQ team or consistent sharpshooters, we'd be talking about one of the absolutely best offenses in the NBA.

Best thing that can happen for the wolves imo (other than a magical title run) is for Randle to continue to play well and up his value enough that they can flip him for some more positive value and sell high there. Ant is Ant, but you can at least surround him with smarter/headier players (I also think Randle sulks too much when things aren't going his team's way).

Midway through the season, I figured the Wolves would let Randle walk this offseason if they couldn't find a sign and trade. With Naz and NAW as free agents this summer, and us already being a second apron team, I figured Randle was going to end up a rental and a tool to help us navigate the cap.

Now it's been months of him simply being core to our identity. A lot of secondary stars in the NBA aren't necessarily perfect fits with the primary star. They bring value by being a talent add, but sometimes have to suppress their games or get out the way to support the primary star. Randle and Coach Finch have figured out how to make sure this is not the case in Minnesota. Randle driving off the catch whenever teams load up on Ant has been the consistent life force of our offense. He injects a ton of rim protection and functional playmaking into our offense, while also being a super confident shooter when he's open. Defensively, he's not great, but he's found a role as a strong matchup defender, and the effort level is much more consistent.

It's night and day. Randle was a ball stopping black hole with zero effort on defense. Now he's quite often the best all-around player on the floor.

[cupcakesnake]

Al Horford is even older, does that mean he was better in his prime?

Al Horford isn’t even being paid a quarter of what Jimmy’s being paid so no the expectations are different for him.

Different players age differently. You just can't judge someone's prime based on their moonlight years. Even before the trade this same Jimmy Butler was no longer a #1 option in the east. Does that mean that he wasn't even a #1 in the east in the past? Or should I say something equally silly like:

Jimmy's just as good as he's always been but he couldn't cut it in the rising east anymore, that's why he ran away to the mid West

Butler was a fantastic player for years, who could take over offensively whenever his team need him to but who could also impact games just with his cutting & playmaking. A player who would've been one of the greatest 1B's of all time if he had ever played with a better player in his prime. But he's not that guy anymore.

He wasn't last year, and the year before that he didn't have enough left in the tank to be that guy in the regular season...though he did still have enough left for a couple of playoff series worth of Himmy. The guy you're watching in the west now is still super crafty and a perfect fit next to steph...which is why I think he makes Draymond expendable for a better big...but this is far removed from the real Playoff Jimmy.

One of the more consistently silly type of take I see is: this older player playing bad is actually evidence he was never good! I told you he was a fraud! People just go for a narrative they like and ignore basic facts like: players tend to decline in their 30s.

Players obviously change over time. There's the obvious age trajectory, but players can be pretty different season to season. A guy might have been banged up and lacking explosion one year in his prime, and ended up looking bad in the playoffs, and then gone off in his post-prime because he was healthy at the right time. Roster context makes a big difference too. Sometimes guys have seasons where the roster sets them up for big time success. There are other years where the roster is crunchy and it's harder.

[Klomp]

Post started this game. As starting center, he played 3 minutes and was -13.

That was such a strange move to me. Most of Kerr's rotations have had me scratching my head. I thought Golden State would have a coaching advantage over Minnesota, but so far it feels like Kerr has just been experimenting as if this is his first playoff series.

[Black Jack]

The man is 50. He didn't look the same as he did a couple of years ago even in the east. That's part of why Miami didn't want to pay him the money he wanted.

Jimmy is a #2 now but still, if nobody else wants to handle the rock or hit open shots his job is sort of impossible.

We're just used to watching Steph do the impossible but that doesn't mean Jimmy isn't still good.

Also I just think the Warriors went out there like let these guys win this one so we can save energy.

Yeah, if you had someone like Turner and a healthy steph I'd really like your chances. But without steph or a quality center, I just don't see how you overcome this matchup. Despite Jimmy still being a very crafty #2.

Why the Warriors refuse to add average starting level center, I just cannot understand.

Steph getting the hamstring seems related to him having to rebound so much etc. in the last series.

[Klomp]

If the wolves win this because Steph is out I'm gonna hate it on multiple levels. First off I wanted Ant vs Steph. Second off it's gonna leave the Wolves soft going into the WCF. Third, in the long run it doesn't improve this squad. Even if they lost the series there's real lessons to be learned for a core that's only around 24 years old. Now there's none of that.

You've probably had enough pushback on this, but I'd also add that maybe going "soft" into the WCF is better as opposed to the bloodbath we went through in the semifinals last year. They were exhausted last year. This year we might not be as mentally sharp right off the bat, but we shouldn't be immediately disadvantaged physically.

[Klomp]

Read on Twitter

This was funny. They should actually just do this till Steph is back.

I didn't even think about it until just now, but I wonder how ABC execs are feeling with this rock-throwing series on the air for the next two games.

[Klomp]

Read on Twitter

[Sealab2024]

If the wolves win this because Steph is out I'm gonna hate it on multiple levels. First off I wanted Ant vs Steph. Second off it's gonna leave the Wolves soft going into the WCF. Third, in the long run it doesn't improve this squad. Even if they lost the series there's real lessons to be learned for a core that's only around 24 years old. Now there's none of that.

You've probably had enough pushback on this, but I'd also add that maybe going "soft" into the WCF is better as opposed to the bloodbath we went through in the semifinals last year. They were exhausted last year. This year we might not be as mentally sharp right off the bat, but we shouldn't be immediately disadvantaged physically.

I don't mind pushback. Guys haven't been disrespectful or trollish so it's just talking anyways. While I do agree that they were done after the Denver series last year I think they learned from it. They did a much better job of managing guys minutes this year (which is a small piece of the win total regression). When guys went down with bumps and bruises they gave them extra time off, gave vets nights off, etc. in fact pretty much everyone but Ant and Jaden had at least a couple weeks break after the new year. I think they came into these playoffs much better prepared for a long run than they were last year when the sold out every night all year long, then started the playoffs.

So while I wouldn't necessarily love a grueling 7 game heavyweight fight, I feel like they're better prepared to weather that and reset for the next series this year. Plus as we all know iron sharpens iron. I just worry about a ho-hum series leading into OKC playing like madmen and putting us down 0-2 before we snap back into playoff mode.