Martinez Tribune The website of the Martinez Tribune.
BY HELEN LAME’
Anthony Edwards exploded for 28 second half points as the Minnesota Timberwolves broke open a tight game in the fourth quarter to race pass the Warriors 102-97, taking a two games to one lead in their Western Conference semifinal Saturday night at Chase Center.
Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards soars to the basket over Warriors center Trayce Jackson-Davis on the way to a 36 point outburst during the Wolves 102-97 win over Golden State Saturday night in Game 3 of the NBA’s Western Conference semifinals.
Minnesota scored the first nine points of the game before the Warriors bounced back to tie the game at the end of the quarter. Golden State would then control the pace and hold the lead for most of the game, building a six point lead early in the fourth quarter, but the Wolves took the lead midway through the final quarter and would never relinquish it.
The Warriors got dominant performances from Jimmy Butler and Jonathan Kuminga but it still wasn’t enough to offset the absence of Steph Curry, who was missing his second consecutive game nursing a hamstring injury.
Golden State’s Jimmy Butler passes out of trouble from under the basket on the way to a 33 point effort during the Warriors loss to Minnesota Saturday night.
Butler controlled the offense, repeatedly driving to the basket when he couldn’t find an open teammate, finishing with a 2025 playoff high 33 points on 12-26 shooting to go along with seven rebounds and seven assists in 43 minutes of action. Questioned after the game about how close he thinks the team is to being in sync without Curry in the lineup, Butler sounded encouraging, “We’re all right. Obviously with Steph out there, he demands two to three bodies when he’s out there on the floor. When he’s not, there’s no room for error. You can’t make mistakes. You can’t turn the ball over. You can’t give back all of those things. And then you’ve got to take the right shots. You’ve got to move the ball the right way. Because he’s the one individual for sure on this team, and maybe in the league, that can make sure you’re never out of any game. We just got to be better and limit our mistakes.”
Kuminga continued his postseason resurgence, scoring a playoff career high 30 points off the bench on 11-18 shooting while throwing down a few highlight reel dunks and connecting on four from beyond the arc while adding six rebounds. Speaking about Kuminga’s effort, Warriors coach Steve Kerr heaped praise, “He was brilliant. JK played one of the best games of his life. It was fantastic to see. You can see how necessary he is in this matchup, especially without Steph. We’re having a tough time getting free, and he’s obviously capable of giving us some points, getting to the rim. I thought he was fantastic. I’ve just been impressed with the way he’s handled things the last couple weeks and the way he’s stayed ready and put in the work and it paid off tonight.”
Jonathan Kuminga finishes off a poster dunk over Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards during the Timberwolves win over Golden State Saturday night at Chase Center in San Francisco.
Asked about mixing and matching while searching for a formula without Curry, Kerr stated “I felt good about the way the game went tonight. We just couldn’t close it out. Give them credit. They made all the plays in the fourth and Randle and Edwards really got going, and we just couldn’t quite overcome them once we got down. But we controlled much of that game, and up six or whatever it was, eight minutes to go, I liked where we were. We just couldn’t finish. The formula looks good. We’ll have some adjustments to make. But I like the matchup. I like what we’re doing.”
Buddy Hield got off to a slow start, but hit four threes in the second half that helped the Warriors maintain a lead, finishing with 14 points, four rebounds and five assists in a starting role. Draymond Green continued his pattern of diminished effectiveness with Curry out of the lineup, fouling out in 29 minutes of play while committing five turnovers. Green totaled two points with two boards and four assists.
Edwards finished with 36, including a 28 point second half effort that set a Wolves postseason record for most points in a half. He commented “It’s playoff basketball. The best players shoot the ball. It’s kind of crazy because teams don’t usually want me to get to the hole. Now they don’t want me to shoot threes, step-back threes. I feel like one thing I never lack is confidence.”
Minnesota’s Julius Randle powers to the basket on the way to his first career playoff triple double during the Timberwolves 102-97 win over Golden State Saturday night at Chase Center.
Julius Randle was a dominating force throughout for Minnesota, posting his first career triple double with a 24-10-12 line in 40 minutes of action. Jaden McDaniels added 15 while Rudy Gobert scored nine points with 13 rebounds and four blocked shots.
The two teams return to the Chase Center floor for Game 4 Monday evening at 7 PM.
GAME NOTES:
Butler’s 33 point effort was his 24th career 30+ point outing during the playoffs.
Buddy Hield recorded his fourth straight playoff game of four or more threes.
The Warriors went 0-5 from three in the first half. It’s the first time since at least 1997-98 they have failed to make a 3-point basket in the first half of a playoff game.
The game marked the first time the Warriors had two 30 point scorers in a playoff game since Stephen Curry (33) and Klay Thompson (32) achieved the mark in 2022 at Denver.
The Warriors are now 9-5 all-time in the postseason (0-2 this year) without Curry in the lineup.
