Subscribe
Follow Us
Coming off a seven-game war against the Houston Rockets, the Golden State Warriors had plenty of confidence heading into their second-round matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves. But just a little over a week later, the Warriors have seen their season come to an end, and with quite a loud thud as well, as they couldn't overcome the absence of Stephen Curry due to a hamstring injury, losing to the Timberwolves in five games.
The Curry-less Warriors, to their credit, were scrappy and were giving it their all against a fully-healthy Timberwolves squad. But without Curry, the Dubs simply were not given a fair shake in the series, and head coach Steve Kerr knows that having their best player would have made a world of difference for their chances of advancing to the Western Conference Finals.
“I know we had a shot. I know we could’ve gone the distance,” Kerr said after the game, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
Curry strained his hamstring in the early goings of Game 1, which the Warriors won thanks to a spirited effort from Buddy Hield and Jimmy Butler. But without Curry for the rest of the series, the Dubs had little to no firepower on offense, which was especially the case in Games 4 and 5 when Butler couldn't muster up the requisite heroics to keep his team alive and buy their best player more time to recover.
This makes Curry one of the most valuable players in the league, as the Warriors become very hard to watch on the offensive end when he's not out there. His gravity opens up a ton of good shots for his teammates, and without him, the Timberwolves were simply able to lock down on defense.
Of course, playing the what-if game is futile, and all the Warriors can do is look forward to bouncing back next season.
Warriors pay the price for bloodbath first-round series vs. Rockets
The Warriors' first-round matchup against the Rockets took so much out of them physically; Jimmy Butler suffered a hip injury, and Stephen Curry had to work so hard to get open with Houston's defense looking to grab him by the throat on every possession.
Perhaps the Warriors are regretting their inability to finish the Rockets series earlier, which could have bought them more time of rest which could have then prevented Curry from going down with a hamstring injury. But again, crying over spilled milk will do no one any good.
