Warriors 99 vs 88 Timberwolves Curry injured: summary, stats, scores and highlights | NBA Playoffs Game 1
Curry pulled up and started limping after that floater from the elbow and he is going to the locker room after the Wolves call a timeout with 8:19 to go in the half.
He was grabbing at his hamstring before asking to be subbed out. That is obviously a developing story and we will let you know whatever we know.
Update: It's a left hamstring strain. HE WILL NOT RETURN
Buddy ended the night with 24 points hitting 5/8 from downtown and the Warriors hold on for a massive Game 1 win with out Steph Curry. The Warriors went 18/42 from behind the arc and controlled the Wolves on the defensive end.
We look ahead Game 2 and the story heading into Thursday night will be Steph Curry's hamstring. It's been diagnosed as a strain and he is going to have an MRI on Wednesday. With a game on the road in their pocket, they will probably think about resting Curry even if there is a possibility that he can play.
Everything that Randle, who had 18, or Reid who had 19, or Edwards who had 23, was answered by Golden State. Hield was a big part of that. He hit some big threes that killed some of the momentum that the Wolves were trying to build.
If you are going to win Game 1 on the road with no Steph you need a couple of things. You need to play great defense. They did that. GS allowed MIN to shoot just 39.5% from the field and hit just 5/29 from three. The other thing you need to go is get a little lucky from time to time and that's what Jimmy did with this banked in three ball.
Naz Reid had 8 points to start the fourth quarter to chip into the 20 point lead that the Warriors ended the 3rd quarter with. Anthony Edwards started to warm up heading into the fourth quarter, but the depth of Golden State stunned the Wolves. Guys like Pat Spencer who had 4 points and Kuminga who had 7 all pitched in during the win. Payton led all bench players with 8 of the 21 that came from the 2nd and 3rd team.
Jimmy Butler went into the place he called home for a year and knew he was going to need to be big, especially with Steph on the sidelines. He only had 20 points but did a little bit of everything else. He had 11 rebounds, 7 offensive and 8 assists.
Buddy Hield had a 30 point performance in Game 7 and willed the Warriors to the win. On Tuesday he did more of the same. After a quiet 3rd quarter, he had 14 in the 3rd quarter and put the team on his shoulders after the halftime break.
The Wolves looked flat coming out of the gate and never really woke up. Edwards had 1 point in the first half, but he wasn't the only one that was off his game.
Steph went to the locker room and the Warriors needed a pick me up. That came in the form of Draymond Green from the perimeter. He went 4/5 from downtown in the first half and had most of his 18 points before the break.
Curry was already feeling the hammy, and hit the elbow jumper with the floater but that would be it. He would go to the locker room and not come back. Curry had 13 in 13 minutes It was 27-20 Warriors at the time but Golden State would only add to that lead the rest of the way.
It was right after this play that Curry started grabbing at his hamstring on the defensive end. He continued to play a few possessions but would quickly come out.
Curry had 8 points in the first few minutes and looked like he was locked in. He came in nursing the same thumb injury that's been bothering him all postseason but that didn't look like it was affecting him at all.
The Golden State Warriors went into Minnesota just two days after beating the Houston Rockets in Game 7 and stunned the Timberwolves with no Steph Curry for most of the night. Buddy Hield led his team to the improbably win with 24 points in the 99-88 win.
Steph started the game on the right track knocking down a couple of buckets and getting the Warriors going in the first quarter. Steph going down was the story of the game, but the other story was the Warriors defense.
IT'S ALL OVER!!!
The Golden State Warriors go into Minnesota and stun the Wolves without Steph!!!
Butler follows the Green miss with a tip in and that's going to do it.
Randle to the line and e hits one of two FTs.
Review on the floor to see if Hield got the tip in to go before the shot clock ran out. He did not and the call with stand with 47.1 to go.
Edwards drives down the left side and he lays it off the glass.
Butler to the line after the foul on Randle and he hits one of two FTs.
Timeout Warriors with 2:11 to go in the 4th quarter!!!
Hield jacks it from the wing and answers back with a three ball!!
Edwards got a good look from the perimeter and he hits it from the wing!
Butler kicks it out to Payton in the corner and he drills the three ball!
Edwards to the cup and he lays it up and in and gets the foul on Payton! FT is good. 3:30 to go.
Looney sends Randle to the line and he hits both FTs.
Warriors timeout with 4:19 to go in the 4th quarter.
Butler takes a dribble into the lane and gets the push shot to fall from the left side.
Timeout Wolves with 5:18 to go in the 4th quarter.
Hield finally gets a field goal to fall for the Warriors, drilling a three ball in the corner! They are 2/12 from the field this quarter.
Gobert to the line after the foul on Looney and he hits one of two FTs.
Edwards wiggles his way to the lane and he lays it up and in with the right hand from the wrong side.
Green just picked up his 5th foul with 7;30 to go.
Edwards splits two defenders in the paint and lays it up and in and gets the foul on Green. FT is good.
Butler to the line after the foul on Gobert and he hits both FTs.
Gobert gets it down low and just dunks it over Butler
Reid drains a triple fro the top of the key and the Warriors need a timeout with 9:25 to go in the 4th quarter!!!
Reid gets into the lane and gets the floater to go.
Kuminga answers back with a three ball in the corner, and with no Curry he is going to have to step up.
Reid with a quick start to the quarter with a three from the top of the key!!
WE ARE HEADING TO THE FOURTH QUARTER WITH THE WARRIORS UP 20 WITH NO STEPH CURRY!!!
DiVincenzo sinks a triple try to cut the lead to 20 at the end of the third quarter!
Hield to the line after the foul on Randle and he hits both FTs.
Kuminga slashing to the cup and Green found him from the baseline for the slam!
Randle sent to the line after the foul on Kuminga and he hits both FTs.
Randle going back to the rack off the spin and laying it up and in.
The call stands and Green goes to the line where he hits both FTs.
Reid called for a foul on the rebound and the Wolves are going to challenge the call with 2:23 to go in the 3rd quarter.
Spencer goes right at Randle and went running hook shot off the glass on the break!
HIeld in the corner and he drills another three ball, this one over McDaniels. He's got 14 in the quarter!
Butler on the step back three ball and banks it in over DiVincenzo from the top of the key!
Edwards saw a lane and exploded to the bucket for the lay up.
Spencer drives into traffic and lays it up down low.
McDaniels into the lane and he floats it up and in.
Butler with the offensive rebound and put back in the lane.
Edwards pulls down the rebound on one end and goes right down the middle of the court for the lay up on the break.
Reid sprints to the cup and lays it up off the double clutch down the lane.
Hield driving down the lane and he lays it up high off the glass with the left hand.
McDaniels with the mid range jumper from the FT line.
Kuminga to the line after the foul on Reid and he hits both FTs.
Edwards took Green to the rack, got wrapped up and still made the lay up. FT is good.
Timeout Warriors with 7:37 to go in the 3rd quarter.
Edwards drives to the cup and gets the roll off the iron.
HIeld on the step back and he gets the mid range jumper to go and the foul! FT is good after the foul on Conley. He's got 9 in a row.
Reid comes out of the timeout and drains a three ball, their first of the night after missing their first 16!
Green running the break and finds Hield in the corner for three!!!
Timeout Wolves with 8:52 to go in the 3rd quarter!!!
Hield spots up from the wing and drills the three ball off the dish from Green!
McDaniels spins on the block and banks it off the glass.
Back door cut from Butler and Green found him on the baseline for the lay up.
Randle fouled by Green and he hits both FTs.
Payton starts the half off with a three ball from the corner off the extra pass from Hield on the perimeter.
WE ARE BACK IN MINNESOTA FOR THE SECOND HALF OF ACTION!!!
After holding the Wolves to 20 points in the first quarter, they held them to 11 in the second quarter. They were 0/15 from three point range, shot 32% from the field and Edwards has 1 point on 0/8 shooting.
Draymond Green went 6/8 from the field and 4/6 from the arc for 16 points in the first half. He is playing the Curry role with his star scorer having been ruled out.
Curry went up for a floater having already been clutching at his hamstring, and asked to come out of the game. He went to the locker room and would be ruled out of the game with a hamstring strain.
Butler is playing his former team and has six points, but he has been doing more of the dirty work. He's got six rebounds, five on the offensive end.
The Warriors were the one's coming in on short rest but they looked the fresher of the two teams starting out of the gate. Curry got going early with 8 first quarter points.
WE ARE HEADING TO THE HALFTIME BREAK AND THE WARRIORS LEAD BY 13!!!
A low scoring first two quarters. Curry got hurt and out. Green was hot from three point range and Edwards has just one point.
Green airballed a three but Butler was under the bucket waiting for it and put it back up and in.
DiVincenzo puts it on the deck and skips through the lane with the off balanced finger roll.
Green fouls Edwards and he heads to the line where he hits one of two FTs. That's his first bucket of the night.
Hield to the line after the foul on Reid and he hits both FTs.
Green burns past Reid and he flies to the iron for the two handed jam!
Randle broke open and DiVincenzo hit him down low for the wide open lay up.
Timeout Warriors with 2:47 to go in the half.
Looney running down the middle of the court and Hield hit him for the lay up on the break.
McDaniels bullies his way to the bucket and puts it up and over Podziemski.
Randle to the line after the foul on Looney and he hits both FTs.
Timeout Warriors with 5:37 to go in the first half.
Green left alone from the wing and he hits another three ball!! He's 4/5 from downtown!!!
Reid gets into the lane and puts it up and in.
Lay off from Podziemski and Green drilled the three ball from the top of the key!
Curry pulled up and started limping after that floater from the elbow and he is going to the locker room after the Wolves call a timeout with 8:19 to go in the half.
He was grabbing at his hamstring before asking to be subbed out. That is obviously a developing story and we will let you know whatever we know.
Update: It's a left hamstring strain. HE WILL NOT RETURN
Green spots up from the wing and he hits another three ball!
Curry pulls up and floats it up from the elbow.
Curry steps back and drills it in the face of McDaniels on the wing! He's got 11 on the night!
Butler fouled by DiVincenzo and he hits one of two FTs.
Kickout from Butler to Green and he strokes the three on the wing!
WE ARE AT THE END OF THE FIRST QUARTER!
It's been a low scoring first quarter with Curry scoring 8 of the Warriors 18 points, and Edwards has been held scoreless.
Payton was wide open down low and Hield found him for the easy slam.
Reid going back at the bucket and he lays it up and in down the lane.
Reid streaks down the right side and soars for the finger roll.
Curry bangs home a three ball off the offensive rebound and kick out from Payton and Curry breaks a four minute scoreless streak!
Timeout Wolves with 3:38 to go in the quarter.
McDaniels into the lane and he gets the floater to fall.
DiVincenzo pulls up on the baseline and hits the mid range jumper.
McDaniels with another miss but Gobert is there with another offensive rebound and put back.
McDaniels follows up the missed three from Conley and gets the put back to go in the lane.
Edwards looks down low and Gobert with the baby hook in the lane.
Podziemski with a pull up on the break and he drills the three ball.
Curry with a quick trigger in the corner off the short pass from Green on the perimeter.
Randle pulls up with another mid range jumper and he's got a couple of those.
Butler in the corner and he drills the three ball from the corner off the dish from Podziemski!
Curry finds a path to the rack and he lays it up and in with a finger roll.
Randle with a pull up from the FT line off the step back.
We have an early timeout because Hield isn't wearing the same shorts as the rest of his teammates. He goes to the locker room for a quick wardrobe change with a minute gone in this one.
Conley misses the runner at the bucket but Rudy is there with the tip in on the follow.
Green gets us started with a floater in the lane for the first bucket of the series.
WE ARE UNDERWAY FROM MINNESOTA!!!
Warriors starting five
After the massive Game 7 match up the other day, Buddy Hield is going to start for Steve Kerr here in Game 1. It's Steph, Podziemski, Hield, Butler and Green to get things going in Minnesota.
Wolves starting five
It doesn't matter if it's the Lakers, Warriors or Celtics, Chris Finch is going with the same starting five. It's Conley, ANT, McDaniels, Randle and Gobert to start Game 1 from Target Center.
Injury report: Wolves
There is just one player on the Wolves injury report coming into this series and that’s Rob Dillingham who has been out since mid April. The rookie only averaged 4.5 points and 10.5 minutes in his first year in the league, but added a little depth to this team that likes to run and gun. Their top dogs are ready for battle tonight in Game 1 from the Target Center. They are going to want to use their strength and physicality to try to get out to a quick series lead tonight in front of their home crowd.
Injury report: Warriors
The Warriors are led by three aging stars. They are fantastic. They have title winning pedigree, and they are still at the top of their game, but they can’t play all game. They need some help from their bench, and luckily for Steve Kerr and the Dubs their injury report is pretty clean. Gary Payton II is listed as questionable with an illness. He was battling the same illness that kept him out against the Rockets in Game 7. He’ll give it a go in pregame and see how he feels.
Season series: Warriors vs. Wolves
These two teams have played four times already this season. They all came before Jimmy Butler went to San Fran, but the Dubs were able to win three of those four. There was a flurry of games between these two teams in early December. The first two were played at the Chase Center, and each team split each of those. The second was a week and an half later, and the Warriors won that game from Target Center 113-103. The final game between them came in mid January and it was the Warriors who won it against in Minnesota thanks to 31 from Steph Curry. Throw past history out the window, but the Warriors come into this series knowing what it takes to topple the Wolves.
Butler meets up with ex
Let’s not forget the other subplot in this series. Jimmy Butler was once a Minnesota Timberwolf. After a six year era in Chicago to start his career, he was dealt to the Timberwolves. He had an All-Star first half of the season before injuring his knee. Butler came back right before the playoffs but Minnesota was knocked out of the playoffs in the first round. Butler requested a trade if they weren’t going to pay him an extension. The saga went on until Jimmy suited up with the third team in a practice and beat the rest of the first five while screaming at ownership demanding they pay him. No deal was reached but they eventually ended up trading him in November of that season.
Kerr created a monster
Before everyone around the world knew the name Antony Edwards, he was auditioning for teams before the 2020 NBA Draft. One of the teams that was in the running for him was the Golden State Warriors who had the second pick in the draft. Steve Kerr and the Dubs worked him out and Kerr gave ANT Man a wise word of advice. He told Edwards he has to learn how to work hard. The way he was working out didn’t hold a candle to the intensity and purpose that Steph and Klay worked out. Kerr told him he wouldn’t pick him if he had the No. 1 pick. Well, he didn’t. He had the 2nd pick and took James Wiseman. The Wolves had the first pick and took Edwards. Since then Kerr has created a monster.
ANT wanted to Warriors
Anthony Edwards talked this series into fruition a few years ago. Not last year but the year before, he was asked who he might want to play in the playoffs and he was very clear about his answer. He said he wanted the Golden State Warriors and Draymond Green. More specifically he said Green, cause he talks so much trash. Now he is going to have a chance to shut him up. ANT was a 21 year old back then. Two years later he’s more mature, and has a different agenda. He’s on a mission to meet the Warriors, take down LeBron and Steph and back to back series but he’s more interested in bringing the Wolves to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.
Warriors since trade
It’s hard to remember and even harder to believe that this Warriors team was under .500 at the beginning of February. They needed a change at the middle of the year, and they got one. A big one. They brought in Jimmy Butler who debuted in early February against the Chicago Bulls when the Warriors were 25-26. They won Jimmy’s debut and went 23-8 in their final 31 games, but still had to get through the Play-In. They won that for their 24th win in 32 and they earned the right to play the Rockets in the playoffs. They won four of those seven, which brings the total with Jimmy to 28-11. Draymond Green said it very seriously during the All Star Break. “This team can win the NBA championship. No we are going to win the NBA championship.”
Star watch Wolves
We are watching the future of the NBA taking the reigns from the players who have carried the league for the last generation. He is doing it with style, power and he’s doing it with a confidence that only the greats have. Anthony Edwards can do it all and at just 23 he is just getting started. He’s already been to the Conference Finals where he came up just short of the NBA Finals last year. He has had those growing pains that make a young kid learn how to win in the future. MJ went through them, so did Kobe and LeBron. This is his team and now is his time. He averaged 27.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists in the regular season. He averaged almost 30 a game through the first four matches against the Lakers, including 43 in Game 4. He went 0/11 from the field in Game 5 and scored just 15 points, but that’s going to drive him even more in this series and the series to come.
Star watch: Warriors
He is the greatest shooter the world has ever seen. He is a four time NBA Champion. He is a two time MVP. He is also 37 years old, but that has not slowed him down in the slightest. The only things that might be slowing him down is his banged up thumb that he has been protecting since the end of the regular season. He averaged 24.5, 4.4 and 6 in the regular season, and that’s right around what he averaged in the first round series against the Rockets. Houston came at him with their physical defense and relentless pressure and gave him some trouble. It didn’t stop him from shooting almost 50% from the field and 40% from the arc, but that speaks more to the phenomenon that is Steph more than the Rockets inability to stop him.
How they got here: Wolves
The Wolves made a franchise changing trade last offseason, sending Karl-Anthony Towns to New York for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo. They were hovering around .500 to start the new year and did start hitting their stride until March came around. They ended the season 16-4 in their last 20 games and finished just a game over the Warriors to head into the playoffs s the 6 seed. That set up a match up with Luka, LeBron and the new look Lakers, and the Wolves reminded us that this was a team that went to the Conference Semis last year. The took down the Lakers in five games and now ANT and the Warriors have a chance to KO Steph Curry and the Warriors as he looks to take the torch not just in the Western Conference but in the league.
How they got here: Warriors
The Warriors came into this year having traded away Klay Thompson, and it looked like the dynasty light was fading in the Bay. The first half of the season was rough, and even Stephen Curry was struggling as the Warriors were idling around the Play-In spots heading into February. Then the Jimmy Butler trade happened and everything changed. The Warriors rocketed up the Western Conference standings and were in contention for a top four finish to the regular season but ended up having to get through the Play-In. They beat the Grizzlies in the opener, got the 7 seed and took on a tough but young Houston team. It took seven games, but eventually they got the job down and now it’s time to try and knock off a similarly structured team in the Wolves.
We are live from Target Center
Hello everyone and welcome to the Target Center where the Minnesota Timberwolves are coming in rested and refreshed after what turned out to be a relatively smooth series against the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round. Anthony Edwards led his team all series, but it was Rudy Gobert that delivered the knock out blow in Game 5 to send Luka, LeBron and the Lakers packing. Golden State took a 3-1 series lead, but Houston stretched it to a 7th and final game and the Warriors had to go on the road and win the series to avoid a disastrous collapse.
Warriors vs. Timberwolves Game 1 live
Two of the lowest seeds in the Western Conference pulled first round upsets to set up a match up between the six and seven seed. One team has been a mainstay and a reference in the West for over a decade while the other team are the new challengers on the block looking to make their playoff break through and get to the Finals for the first time in franchise history. It’s the Golden State Warriors taking on the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 of the second round and AS English will be with you providing live coverage, stats, highlights and analysis of tonight’s series opener from Target Center.