Even with Stephen Curry out of the game for most of the night due to a hamstring injury, the Minnesota Timberwolves were unable to take advantage. Instead, they went ice cold and the Golden State Warriors escaped with a 99-88 win to take a 1-0 lead and take control of home-court advantage in this second-round series.
The Warriors struggled to score with Curry out of the game as Steve Kerr cycled through lineups, trying to see what would stick. However, it wasn't the Golden State offense that got the job done. It was the Warriors' defense that held Minnesota to one of its worst offensive nights of the year.
The Timberwolves shot an abysmal percentage from the 3-point line in this game, finishing the game just 5-for-29 from downtown despite getting some pretty good looks throughout the game. As it was happening, fans couldn't believe the amount of bricks they were seeing from a team that normally shoots it pretty well from the outside.
100 Timberwolves vs. 1 three-point line
— Shahbaz Khan (@ShahbazMKhan) May 7, 2025
The Minnesota Timberwolves when they saw the Celtics set the record for most missed 3s in a playoff game pic.twitter.com/UE74KaGx80
— Joe Cool (@JOECOOLSKOL) May 7, 2025
the entire timberwolves roster from 3 pic.twitter.com/0gKAuXVjXB
— Kaleb (@PrimeERod) May 7, 2025
The Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 pic.twitter.com/o8xuq34Mr0
— Overtime (@overtime) May 7, 2025
Th Timberwolves scored just 31 points in the first half, which set records for both teams. It was Minnesota's lowest total in a half this entire season, and it was the least amount of points that the Warriors have allowed in the first half in the shot clock era.
It sounds like Curry is still going to be out for Game 2 and maybe beyond, so the Wolves will still feel pretty good about their chances to come back and make this a long series. However, it's discouraging for them to take this loss on their home floor even without the best player on the other side in the second half.
If the Timberwolves can get back to shooting it at their usual clip, they still have a good chance of winning. However, this is their second-straight game where they couldn't find the range from downtown after struggling in Game 5 against the Los Angeles Lakers.
In particular, Anthony Edwards needs to get going. The star guard shot just 1-for-5 from deep, which is far below his usual standard. However, Edwards has stepped up in the playoffs before, so expect a bounce-back from him and Minnesota in Game 2.