2025 NBA PLAYOFFS West Semifinals: #6 Minnesota Timberwolves vs #7 Golden State Warriors (MIN leads 3-1)

[Wolfgang630]

Hard not to see this game closed out in 5. I think the Warriors know they can’t win this series and will be down.

[firedavidkahn]

He said this before last year IIRC

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[nazario]

No guarantee the Warriors would have won this series with a healthy Curry although they would have certainly had a better chance.

Warriors are winning game 1, no matter what. I think they probably grab another one with Steph and we're looking at a 2-2 series. The Wolves have not played consistently in this series. We let the Warriors drag us down into the mud, and then need to really get out **** together in the 3rd or 4th to put them down.

"Probably grab another one" is an understatement IMO. A team -and a player that has never lost in 5 or under would not likely have been backdoorswept by this Wolves team. By all means, a good team, but not vastly better than the one they already beat in the Rockets. Better offense, but worse defense. Curry has never had any problems with producing against them, and was on his way to an easy 30+ before he got injured. With the cascading effect that Mcdaniels probably would be forced to defend away from a more static Butler, which suits him more, and try to follow Curry.

Tbf, Idk how much we can extrapolate from those first 2 quarters. But, we can all in good conscience assume that the Warriors would at least have gone back to Minnesota 2-2.

[cupcakesnake]

No guarantee the Warriors would have won this series with a healthy Curry although they would have certainly had a better chance.

Warriors are winning game 1, no matter what. I think they probably grab another one with Steph and we're looking at a 2-2 series. The Wolves have not played consistently in this series. We let the Warriors drag us down into the mud, and then need to really get out **** together in the 3rd or 4th to put them down.

"Probably grab another one" is an understatement IMO. A team -and a player that has never lost in 5 or under would not likely have been backdoorswept by this Wolves team. By all means, a good team, but not vastly better than the one they already beat in the Rockets. Better offense, but worse defense. Curry has never had any problems with producing against them, and was on his way to an easy 30+ before he got injured. With the cascading effect that Mcdaniels probably would be forced to defend away from a more static Butler, which suits him more, and try to follow Curry.

Tbf, Idk how much we can extrapolate from those first 2 quarters. But, we can all in good conscience assume that the Warriors would at least have gone back to Minnesota 2-2.

We don't disagree overall since we both think this would be 2-2.

I disagree with the unfavorable comparison to Houston. In the regular season, their defense was only 0.7 points per 100 better than ours. They had a more consistent season, but we were much better over the final 30 games. I actually like our defense a little more. We have just as many high level perimeter defenders (FVV, Amen, Brooks, Eason vs. McDaniels, Naw, Ant, Clark, TSJ) but we are a much stronger rim protection team. Houston can be relentless with the terror twins and very craft FVV, but they a Jalen Green sized hole, and Sengun doesn't have great vertical size. Randle is our hole. He's good on the ball, but inattentive and low effort when he's off the ball.

The bigger difference comes on the offensive end. We have teeth, they don't. Houston has serious problems shooting and scoring the ball, and lack a central source of rim pressure outside of Sengun post ups. Houston had to crank the offensive rebounding to 9000% to be able to score. Minnesota offense can be very hot and cold, but overall this offense has been producing at a high level for a while now.

Houston had a more consistent season than us. 3 more regular season wins, but we had a higher net rating. Minnesota has consistently demonstrated a higher gear than Houston, especially in high leverage games.

[zshawn10]

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[Sandy333]

Poz and ty Jerome are the one of the reason the offense has fallen off for the two teams. For gsw having two non shooters in podz and draymond is killing thier offense with no space or kickout options to Jimmy. Buddy is the only one who needs to closely guarded now, with the rest of them 90% of time missing on slow recovery closeouts also.

[Sandy333]

Wolves extremely lucky firstly with " the zero without Refs " Lakers and now a stepless warriors and fatigued okc or Denver. Nba also seems too eager to anoint Edwards as the next Jordan, the way fouls are being called for him.
To Wolves credit they have multiple ways of attack, the gobert outrebounding style, edwards foul bailout rim attack style, decent three point style, and Randles bully ball style, no one team can defend all of them.

Warriors have zero chance with everything including the refs and nba against them and the game is not even worth watching.

[DonaldSanders]

Jimmy was sick last game, so that accounts for him being much less involved than the prior game:

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Obviously the Warriors offense is transformationally better with Curry out there. Not just him scoring, but he gives everyone more gaps to attack. This old version of Jimmy needed Steph to create some advantages for him to attack.

I think the Warriors have a harder time on defense though. One more small guy out there, one more old guy out there. The Warriors have tried to go big with Curry out (more minutes for Trayce, Looney, and Kuminga). It would honestly be just an entirely different matchup. It's not as simple as adding Steph to what they're already doing. It's a different type of team.

Steph was great on defense last series, did you watch? Then you add the fact that the ball going through the hoop sets up the defense.

Warriors were #1 in defense since trading for Jimmy, so I find this to be a wishful thinking/outdated type claim. Steph is a legit defender now.

[RB34]

Jimmy was sick last game, so that accounts for him being much less involved than the prior game:

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Obviously the Warriors offense is transformationally better with Curry out there. Not just him scoring, but he gives everyone more gaps to attack. This old version of Jimmy needed Steph to create some advantages for him to attack.

I think the Warriors have a harder time on defense though. One more small guy out there, one more old guy out there. The Warriors have tried to go big with Curry out (more minutes for Trayce, Looney, and Kuminga). It would honestly be just an entirely different matchup. It's not as simple as adding Steph to what they're already doing. It's a different type of team.

Steph was great on defense last series, did you watch? Then you add the fact that the ball going through the hoop sets up the defense.

Warriors were #1 in defense since trading for Jimmy, so I find this to be a wishful thinking/outdated type claim. Steph is a legit defender now.

This dude has the most insane plot armour I’ve ever seen of any athlete.

[jscott]

Wolves extremely lucky firstly with " the zero without Refs " Lakers and now a stepless warriors and fatigued okc or Denver. Nba also seems too eager to anoint Edwards as the next Jordan, the way fouls are being called for him.
To Wolves credit they have multiple ways of attack, the gobert outrebounding style, edwards foul bailout rim attack style, decent three point style, and Randles bully ball style, no one team can defend all of them.

Warriors have zero chance with everything including the refs and nba against them and the game is not even worth watching.

WTF kind of fan fiction is this?

The refs siding with the Wolves? Have you been watching this series?

[Saltine]

I guess this guy doesn't see all the flopping that golden state gets rewarded for.... they play like little bitches, Jimmy fits in well there.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Wolves extremely lucky firstly with " the zero without Refs " Lakers and now a stepless warriors and fatigued okc or Denver. Nba also seems too eager to anoint Edwards as the next Jordan, the way fouls are being called for him.
To Wolves credit they have multiple ways of attack, the gobert outrebounding style, edwards foul bailout rim attack style, decent three point style, and Randles bully ball style, no one team can defend all of them.

Warriors have zero chance with everything including the refs and nba against them and the game is not even worth watching.

WTF kind of fan fiction is this?

The refs siding with the Wolves? Have you been watching this series?

LOL. Social media is ALL about throwing out random things just to get attention. Obviously.

Anthony Edwards is #13 in FTA per game in the playoffs. He's taken more than 8 FTs in only one game out of 9.

Earlier in the playoffs, he took 26 shots... but never got to the line.

[cgf]

No guarantee the Warriors would have won this series with a healthy Curry although they would have certainly had a better chance.

Warriors are winning game 1, no matter what. I think they probably grab another one with Steph and we're looking at a 2-2 series. The Wolves have not played consistently in this series. We let the Warriors drag us down into the mud, and then need to really get out **** together in the 3rd or 4th to put them down.

"Probably grab another one" is an understatement IMO. A team -and a player that has never lost in 5 or under would not likely have been backdoorswept by this Wolves team. By all means, a good team, but not vastly better than the one they already beat in the Rockets. Better offense, but worse defense. Curry has never had any problems with producing against them, and was on his way to an easy 30+ before he got injured. With the cascading effect that Mcdaniels probably would be forced to defend away from a more static Butler, which suits him more, and try to follow Curry.

Tbf, Idk how much we can extrapolate from those first 2 quarters. But, we can all in good conscience assume that the Warriors would at least have gone back to Minnesota 2-2.

The warriors would’ve been down 1-3 either way. The difference is that with Steph they would have won tonight to keep the series alive.

[firedavidkahn]

Wolves extremely lucky firstly with " the zero without Refs " Lakers and now a stepless warriors and fatigued okc or Denver. Nba also seems too eager to anoint Edwards as the next Jordan, the way fouls are being called for him.
To Wolves credit they have multiple ways of attack, the gobert outrebounding style, edwards foul bailout rim attack style, decent three point style, and Randles bully ball style, no one team can defend all of them.

Warriors have zero chance with everything including the refs and nba against them and the game is not even worth watching.

WTF kind of fan fiction is this?

The refs siding with the Wolves? Have you been watching this series?

"Refs are siding with the Wolves"

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I refuse to believe you typed that with a straight face

[cupcakesnake]

Obviously the Warriors offense is transformationally better with Curry out there. Not just him scoring, but he gives everyone more gaps to attack. This old version of Jimmy needed Steph to create some advantages for him to attack.

I think the Warriors have a harder time on defense though. One more small guy out there, one more old guy out there. The Warriors have tried to go big with Curry out (more minutes for Trayce, Looney, and Kuminga). It would honestly be just an entirely different matchup. It's not as simple as adding Steph to what they're already doing. It's a different type of team.

Steph was great on defense last series, did you watch? Then you add the fact that the ball going through the hoop sets up the defense.

Warriors were #1 in defense since trading for Jimmy, so I find this to be a wishful thinking/outdated type claim. Steph is a legit defender now.

I'm pro-Steph's defense. I think he has fantastic awareness, is a little stronger than people think, and a couple years ago he even gave you a pinch of rim protection with his well timed help defense in the paint. Years ago, when teams would hunt him, I'd feel like.... sure go for it. You might get a few buckets, but you're not generating amazing offense by iso'ing Steph that much.

However, the man is old and small and the Wolves are young and big. Houston lacked a ton of perimeter punch. Fred can't score inside 3, Jalen Green is not a serious player, and the rest of the guys can't score outside 3. Steph had plenty of ways to contribute. Steph against the Wolves... I want to be clear that I'm not saying Steph would be some big hole or target. What I'm saying is that Steph makes your lineups smaller and more offensively skewed. One more small guy closing out on 6'9" shooters. One more small guy who might have to switch onto Gobert to box out, or close out and guard a Jaden drive. One more bad matchup for Ant. The Wolves just present more bad situations for the Warriors than Houston could.

The Warriors without Steph have had a clear strategy. Go all out on defense, and hope we can scrap together some points on the other end through Buddy 3s, Jimmy improvising, Kuminga rim pressure, and hey let's hope some random dudes hit shots (Draymond!). They play as bigger than they like to with Steph. More minutes for GP2, Kuminga, and Looney. They want Ant to drive into the paint, surround him and crowd his reads, and then scramble out to stop drives. Steph doesn't help with this kind of coverage. Kerr is specifically trying to be like: what new strength can we unearth without Steph?

[cupcakesnake]

Wolves extremely lucky firstly with " the zero without Refs " Lakers and now a stepless warriors and fatigued okc or Denver. Nba also seems too eager to anoint Edwards as the next Jordan, the way fouls are being called for him.
To Wolves credit they have multiple ways of attack, the gobert outrebounding style, edwards foul bailout rim attack style, decent three point style, and Randles bully ball style, no one team can defend all of them.

Warriors have zero chance with everything including the refs and nba against them and the game is not even worth watching.

The Warriors... foul on every possessions. I'm not complaining about this. They're a super high IQ team who know how to gain advantages. This has long been a part of their DNA. Draymond (and Iggy and Bogut back in the day) very much subscribe to Chuck Daly's: foul on every play because the refs wont call a foul on every play.

Draymond and Jimmy will add a bit of calculated extra something something to all their contests. Every Warrior fouls the **** out of Gobert any time he's in the paint (Podz recently admitted this). I think Draymond is a genius defender, but it's pretty rare to watch a replay of his defensive possessions and not find some extra curricular behavior. Also, if refs wanted, they could call a technical on Draymond basically every time they call a foul on him. We've all seen the special way he communicates with the officiating crew.

The Warriors have the free throw advantage in this series, despite Minnesota being the bigger, more athletic team that drives harder. I'm not complaining. We're young and dumb and don't quite grasp the subtle concepts of winning the foul game. We just charge in and complain there's no whistle.

But yeahhhhh it is absolutely ludicrous to claim a ref advantage for the Wolves. The Warriors have the ref advantage in every conceivable way. They deserve to have it because they've taken it. I hope my sweet Timberpups absorb some of their tricks.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Wolves extremely lucky firstly with " the zero without Refs " Lakers and now a stepless warriors and fatigued okc or Denver. Nba also seems too eager to anoint Edwards as the next Jordan, the way fouls are being called for him.
To Wolves credit they have multiple ways of attack, the gobert outrebounding style, edwards foul bailout rim attack style, decent three point style, and Randles bully ball style, no one team can defend all of them.

Warriors have zero chance with everything including the refs and nba against them and the game is not even worth watching.

The Warriors... foul on every possessions. I'm not complaining about this. They're a super high IQ team who know how to gain advantages. This has long been a part of their DNA. Draymond (and Iggy and Bogut back in the day) very much subscribe to Chuck Daly's: foul on every play because the refs wont call a foul on every play.

Draymond and Jimmy will add a bit of calculated extra something something to all their contests. Every Warrior fouls the **** out of Gobert any time he's in the paint (Podz recently admitted this). I think Draymond is a genius defender, but it's pretty rare to watch a replay of his defensive possessions and not find some extra curricular behavior. Also, if refs wanted, they could call a technical on Draymond basically every time they call a foul on him. We've all seen the special way he communicates with the officiating crew.

The Warriors have the free throw advantage in this series, despite Minnesota being the bigger, more athletic team that drives harder. I'm not complaining. We're young and dumb and don't quite grasp the subtle concepts of winning the foul game. We just charge in and complain there's no whistle.

But yeahhhhh it is absolutely ludicrous to claim a ref advantage for the Wolves. The Warriors have the ref advantage in every conceivable way. They deserve to have it because they've taken it. I hope my sweet Timberpups absorb some of their tricks.

I've championed one idea to ensure Anthony Edwards makes "the leap" next year...

- Foul baiting.

Give him a dedicated coach to teach him the tricks of the trade. The guy doesn't flop... but he sure does complain. Teach him to exaggerate contact a bit more and that's 3 or 4 more FTA per game. Last year, he worked on his three pointer... that added a couple of points. I don't think there's another thing he could work on that would make as much of a difference as becoming the next great free throw merchant.

Might take away some of what makes him so fun to watch... but winning = popularity, too.

[bisme37]

Continue here: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2458810

[cupcakesnake]

Wolves extremely lucky firstly with " the zero without Refs " Lakers and now a stepless warriors and fatigued okc or Denver. Nba also seems too eager to anoint Edwards as the next Jordan, the way fouls are being called for him.
To Wolves credit they have multiple ways of attack, the gobert outrebounding style, edwards foul bailout rim attack style, decent three point style, and Randles bully ball style, no one team can defend all of them.

Warriors have zero chance with everything including the refs and nba against them and the game is not even worth watching.

The Warriors... foul on every possessions. I'm not complaining about this. They're a super high IQ team who know how to gain advantages. This has long been a part of their DNA. Draymond (and Iggy and Bogut back in the day) very much subscribe to Chuck Daly's: foul on every play because the refs wont call a foul on every play.

Draymond and Jimmy will add a bit of calculated extra something something to all their contests. Every Warrior fouls the **** out of Gobert any time he's in the paint (Podz recently admitted this). I think Draymond is a genius defender, but it's pretty rare to watch a replay of his defensive possessions and not find some extra curricular behavior. Also, if refs wanted, they could call a technical on Draymond basically every time they call a foul on him. We've all seen the special way he communicates with the officiating crew.

The Warriors have the free throw advantage in this series, despite Minnesota being the bigger, more athletic team that drives harder. I'm not complaining. We're young and dumb and don't quite grasp the subtle concepts of winning the foul game. We just charge in and complain there's no whistle.

But yeahhhhh it is absolutely ludicrous to claim a ref advantage for the Wolves. The Warriors have the ref advantage in every conceivable way. They deserve to have it because they've taken it. I hope my sweet Timberpups absorb some of their tricks.

I've championed one idea to ensure Anthony Edwards makes "the leap" next year...

- Foul baiting.

Give him a dedicated coach to teach him the tricks of the trade. The guy doesn't flop... but he sure does complain. Teach him to exaggerate contact a bit more and that's 3 or 4 more FTA per game. Last year, he worked on his three pointer... that added a couple of points. I don't think there's another thing he could work on that would make as much of a difference as becoming the next great free throw merchant.

Might take away some of what makes him so fun to watch... but winning = popularity, too.

If you can't foul bait, you're vulnerable in the playoffs against overly physical defenses. Look at Jokic against OKC right now. He's famous for drawing fouls and not flopping, but he's able to look at how OKC is guarding him and knows he has to punish them for that defensive style or he'll get zero easy baskets. Jokic is out there flopping like a fish right now, because OKC amps the physicality up to 100 and tries to make you and the refs live with it.

Golden State has similar defensive principles. They want to swarm and push the boundaries of physicality. Ant can raise his arms at the refs all day, and he's not wrong, but in these situations you have to force the refs to blow the whistle because your opponent has made the refs indecisive.

We never like it when someone uses foul baiting as a main source of scoring. Embiid and Harden have been unbearable at times. Embiid falling down repeatedly in a regular season game against a lottery team, or Harden intentionally hooking every defender on his drives, even at the expense of making a real layup attempts... is no fun for fans to watch. If you can't draw fouls at a high level, certain opponents can and will take advantage of that in the playoffs.