The Golden State Warriors looked like they would make a deep playoff run after upsetting the No. 2-seeded Houston Rockets. With two proven playoff closers in Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler, the Dubs looked like they had enough to go farther than the second round of the playoffs.
But in Game 1 of their Western Conference Semifinals matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Curry suffered a strained left hamstring that forced him to miss the rest of the series. Steph was reportedly going to be available for a Game 6 but his teammates could not hold the fort for him by winning either Game 3 or 4 at Chase Center.
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Head coach Steve Kerr talked about the Dubs’ disappointing finish during his recent appearance on the “Tom Tolbert Show.”
“We thought we could try to extend the series,” said Kerr. “I think Game 3 was the key, if we had been able to pull that out, I think we had a six-point lead, mid-fourth, we could’ve found a way. Steph would probably have been back for Game 6 and I think we had a real shot. But to expect to beat Minnesota basically four times, without Steph, was highly unlikely.”
The Dubs almost surprised the Wolves in Game 3
Game 3 was perhaps the Dubs’ best chance of beating the Wolves without Steph. It was the first game Kerr really gave Jonathan Kuminga playing time, and the fourth-year forward responded with a 30-point effort that the Timberwolves did not expect.
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With 10:58 left in the game, Kuminga made two free throws to give the Dubs a 75-69 lead in the low-scoring game. But the Wolves rallied behind Edwards and grabbed the upper hand 84-82 at the 6:16 mark. Golden State cut it to four at 89-93 with 1:57 on the clock, but Minnesota hung tough and won 102-97 to take a 2-1 series lead.
It was touch and go from there as the Wolves easily won the next two games by shooting a combined 88-157 or 56.0 percent from the field to eliminate the Warriors from playoff contention.
“They definitely broke us. Those fourth and fifth games, they broke our defense and clearly were the better team and that’s why they moved on.”
Jimmy Butler also failed to step up in Steph’s absence
That Game 3 also turned out to be Jimmy Butler’s best effort in the series. Known for his playoff alter ego ‘Playoff Jimmy’, Butler was expected to carry the Dubs in Curry’s absence. Instead, after scoring 33 on 12-26 shooting in Game 3, he took just 20 total shots and scored only 31 total points in Games 4 and 5. ESPN’s Jay Williams slammed Butler’s effort.
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“You weren’t asked to win the war; you were asked to hold the damn line. For one game, not two games or three games. Give your son and your solar system a chance to rise up again for Game 6. That sun is Steph Curry. Last game, he took nine shots and the fact that Jimmy Butler took only 11 shots when you needed him the most in this game, it’s shocking to me,” Williams said. “It’s a guy who is going to be paid $120 million over the next two years.”
But blaming Butler for the Warriors’ ouster was unfair. Without him, they might not have reached the second round or probably even got the seventh seed. More than anything, it was Steph’s injury that doomed them. Without him, the tandem of Ant and Randle was simply too much to overcome, with Draymond even admitting he lost his matchup versus Julius.