Nothing likes more than a sports writer when the game appears on the silver medal when encapsulated by a single sequence, introductory paragraph. Entering the 33rd minute of the Minnesota Timberwolves, 1 loss to the Golden State Warriors 99-88 games, Tuesday night.
Anthony Edwards just cut Minnesota’s deficit by 13, baking a Kevon Looney switch, which is set up with smooth ball movement and offensive rebounds. After 31 points in the first half, the Timberwolves still reached 22 points in the third quarter, and there was still four minutes left, which was the standard of the night, and it was an avalanche. The target center began to shake as Stephen Curry cared for his nervous hamstrings in the locker room and the home team finally made a shot.
Alas, the rebound answers a ridiculous Jimmy Butler prayer…
how? ! Jimmy.
📺 @nbaontnt pic.twitter.com/dhmqjczfqr
– Golden State Warriors (@warriors) May 7, 2025
…Buddy Hield splashed a half-open third in the next possession.
The Warriors shot 42.9% from the field in Game 1, while the Wolves turned 17.2% of their 3-pointers. Is this margin alone insurmountable? perhaps. But at this critical moment, the Wolf rolled it over with a crazy transition push, and then missed two chances of gold, hitting the knife to the basket, pushing it to the layup he deserved:
Timberwolves' first fight goes beyond shooting
The 13-point deficit swelled to 19, and then stayed there until the fourth quarter, when Minnesota's attempt to make an intermittent comeback was short and short. After the game, head coach Chris Finch did not treat all the missed jumpers of the Wolves like the ones for the loss, but rather the side effects of their struggle.
“Our transition decisions are demonic,” Finch told the media. “Obviously, we can't hit the ball, but I don't like the fact that we can't produce good shots over and over again. We should be able to do that.”
The Devilish Word is the perfect word for describing Minnesota’s 1 transitional offense, so terrible it must be malicious. At rest, it makes more mistakes than shooting. Therefore, cleaning calculates the wolf's glass Lost Thanks to Tuesday's transitional game, 4.2 points per 100 rounds, which is the fourth percentile. (The team averaged a team earned about two offensive ratings on the break.)
In Game 1, Minnesota was killed for failing to make a three-pointer. Any analysis has to start there, although it shot 48% of the height from the middle distance, indicating that it did not get the worst shot results. We must also state all the points left by the wolf in the transition. This is a problem, such as the 3-point shooting percentage won in Game 2, when they added an 8.0-point offensive rating at the break.
But Golden State University is not only praying for missing shots and hasty open openings. Wolf in the series. Head coach Steve Kerr's Department of Defense support for Minnesota cannot create an inner layup. Edwards, Julius Randle and others missed the nervous reading, and Rudy Gobert's shortcomings reappeared. In doing so, the Warriors uncovered the biggest obstacle to Minnesota's sudden opening of the NBA playoffs. Although Anthony Edwards & Co. has made progress in the department during Game 2, they still have a long way to go from the third Saturday night.
Check out the Warriors' back help (voice) in the early game 1:
The Golden State is happy to put its weak defenders in a vulnerable position. Of course, they had to get back to the 3-point line with Draymond Green (or occasionally Rooney and Butler) with help so early, but do they really have to sink to the edge? Kerr doesn't believe the pass is being obtained. If so, he wouldn't believe Gobert's fishing ability, in fact, he scored only six shots in the game and groped twice in Game 1.
This allowed Golden State’s weak defenders to conquer the threat Minnesota skipped. When they don't force two-thirds, they run the shooter out of the line. There is no need for X elimination or complex spins here, which allows the fighter to stay in the shell and keep green close to the edge while blocking future threats of driving and kicking. In the two clips above, the ball was changed only once.
Whether Gobert is on the court or not, the Wolves have had the same problem. Additionally, some notable spacing defects and apparent lack of ball movements have allowed Golden State to thrive in human or regional defense (voice):
Of course, the Warriors' defense is worth mentioning its performance in the first game. The green stone wall driver repeatedly uses it on the rim and the plan will be invalid if his rotation time is not original. It's easy to micro-analyze the Wolf's every property without a good shot. But these small details add up. It would have been possible, but not every tense pass or potential cut added up, which adds up to the outrageous offensive performance of the Finch team. The shooting was the sour cherries on the top.
How the Timberwolves adapt in Game 2
So, how much changes actually happened in Game 2? Did the Wolves' process really improve, or was it just because they shot 43.2% from the deep and weren't like the players in the transition from General Washington to 43.2% from the field? Boring but the real answers are all.
The undeniable upgrade is the Minnesota sport that is at the beginning and end of the property. Finch was able to add fun to the offense with some early squash screens to make things tremble instead of calling standard pickups or dribble handovers, each time it started. This is a smaller detail, but it provides more room for the golfer to breathe. Here, Naz Reid takes off a fool before driving the ball and jumping it to Edwards:
One of Min's best second game, the ball goes from side to side to side: pic.twitter.com/ldcumeonrd
— Lucaskaplan (@lucaskaplan_) May 10, 2025
The real improvement was made after Edwards’ capture. He keeps the ball moving and Nickeil Alexander-Walker can take the secondary adventure into the paint. Alexander-Walker caught the attention of four fighters before moving to Reid again in the corner. Now, the ball is on the “third” side of the court, and the Golden State shells are broken. Open three.
So, partly because of better decisions on the backend. Remember, Jaden McDaniels took the two controversial mid-range jumpers in Game 1 a few clips after having only one pass in the game. On the front end, some of them are stronger decisions. Wolves fans should feel comfortable with it given Edwards’ recent drama. He was the strong promoter of the second game, not a distortion, but his new norm.
Below, instead of rushing to help and hanging in the air to jump through the pass, he held Pat Spencer on his back and drove under the basket. This attracted Butler, the weak assistant, who kept in and got kick passes in three games. Prosperity.
Ants Drive was much better and more calm in Game 2, where the defender was held onto his back, forcing Jimmy Butler to sink further into the paint: pic.twitter.com/xvphvf7kfm
— Lucaskaplan (@lucaskaplan_) May 10, 2025
Gobert was on the court and said nothing about his excellent defense, and he was definitely not part of Minnesota's best five games. The Wolves posted a ridiculous 140 offensive rating without him in Game 2, and their drivers benefited from a wide range of open paint. Also, Reed is very good.
I love the show, Alexander-Walker's simple cuts weakened Golden State's help, and Edwards makes the most of it. Without Gobert's paint, the Warriors' spin errors are much thinner:
In G2, only 5-point offensive moves made MIN feel strange. Naw's cuts drag Jimmy out of paint, confusing GSW's help defense, and Ant is decisive: pic.twitter.com/ymdfryxhor
— Lucaskaplan (@lucaskaplan_) May 10, 2025
Everything is fine, right? Not only did Minnesota score three points, but it effectively pushed the pace in Game 2, but Edwards was also more driven. Finch also saw his offense moves smoothly without balls, while the Golden State hired was just bumpy in the path. Wolves are committed to driving and playing continuously, and the Warriors' shell is suddenly penetrated.
But, I stayed more. Even in the second game, they often missed indoor opportunities (half-time) even at the start of their hits:
Gobert may be the main culprit in these clips, but he has been part of the first 96 minutes of the series. Remember that he wasn't on the floor in a sloppy minute in the first game, when open Reid was fruitless before Edwards and Randle missed a simple connection.
The keys to Minnesota offense move forward
Perhaps, it was simply because his team was 20 behind in the third quarter, and he was desperate to force some turnovers, but later in the second game, Kerr showed a more aggressive hand. His defenders trapped people like Edwards and Donte Divincenzo on the ground, Minnesota couldn't take advantage of the 4-on-3 chance. Although the Warriors forced a few mistakes, it was too late to really judge. So it would be interesting to see if Kerr returns to the story in Game 3 on Saturday night.
Timberwolves can win this series without having to play the perfect ball. Curry will be at least until Game 5, and Butler seems unable or unwilling to explode his injured hip. A reasonable three-point percentage and transition efficiency will be enough to get the job done.
They will never chop up the defense with a great internal pass or ending effect, but due to its ultimate cap in 2025, they need to be better than the Warriors.
Meanwhile, we'll see if they can string together the properties that move left and right and slowly break the shell of Golden State's defense, which, if nothing else, is a wonderful challenge for them. How much can they make up for the lack of dominant interiors and high-end passes?
This is what we should watch in Game 3 and beyond.
