The Minnesota Timberwolves made quick work of LeBron and the Lakers in their opening series of these playoffs, and they are on track to do the same with the Golden State Warriors who have more than the T-Wolves to worry about. Their star shooter, Steph Curry, suffered a hamstring injury in game one of the series, and they Warriors haven’t looked nearly as dominant since. Leading the series 2-1, Minnesota has leaned on a couple different guys to get the job done, including Julius Randle who delivered a triple-double in the teams 102-97 victory. The Timberwolves have also gotten great work out of Naz Reid who has gone toe-to-toe with the Warriors Draymond Green.
The feeling around tonight’s game is that the series essentially rides on the Warriors performance. If the Warriors can pull out a victory, we might see an “expedited” return of Curry, one of the greatest shooters of all-time back in time for game five, but it is likely he would still be sidelined until game six later this week (should the series get that far). However, if Golden State goes can’t win tonight and falls behind 3-1, we may not see Curry in these playoffs again. Warriors head Coach Steve Kerr has hinted at a “new formula” Golden State might try out in the absence of Curry, but no matter what lineup is trotted out there will still be the glaring hole outside the arc without Steph on the floor. It seems Golden State will rely on Jimmy Butler to shoulder most of the load, but will need other guys like Draymond Green and Jonathan Kuminga to step up their performance as well.
Tip-off tonight is set for 9:00 PM CT and coverage can be found on ESPN.
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