The Minnesota Timberwolves routed the Golden State Warriors to advance to the NBA Western Conference finals on Wednesday.
The Timberwolves, who had dominated the Warriors to open up a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, once again proved too strong for the seven-time NBA champions as they powered to a 121-110 win in Minneapolis.
The victory completed a 4-1 series triumph for the Timberwolves, who return to the Western Conference finals for a second straight season, where they will meet Denver or Oklahoma City for a place in next month’s NBA Finals.
The Warriors, whose playoff campaign was derailed by an injury to Stephen Curry in game one against Minnesota, once again struggled to generate any offensive fluency in the absence of their superstar talisman.
Instead it was left to the Timberwolves to pull clear after taking the lead early in the first quarter, their greater size and shooting accuracy leaving them in total control for long periods.
The Timberwolves led by 25 points late in the third quarter, and although a Warriors rally managed to cut the lead to nine points with seven minutes left, Minnesota regrouped down the stretch to close out a convincing win.
Julius Randle led the Timberwolves scorers with 29 points while Anthony Edwards finished with 22 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds.
“We’ve had a season full of adversity, but as coach said at the end of the regular season — we didn’t do anything as far as trades or fire coaches,” Randle said.
“We just stuck together and we got through it together. I’m super proud of our team — everybody has stepped up in some way this year. Now we got to keep it going,” he added.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr said the loss of Curry early in the series had also neutralised the effectiveness of Jimmy Butler.
“Once Steph went out, it changed everything for our whole team, but especially for Jimmy,” said Kerr, who maintains his team were good enough to have challenged for the championship had Curry remained fit.
“I know we had a shot, I know we could have gone the distance. Maybe we wouldn’t have. Everything in the playoffs is about who stays healthy and who gets hot,” he said.
© Agence France-Presse
Photo: Ellen Schmidt/Getty Images
