{"id":16019,"date":"2025-05-07T13:09:14","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T13:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/16019\/"},"modified":"2025-05-07T13:09:14","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T13:09:14","slug":"steve-kerrs-game-1-masterpiece-gives-the-warriors-a-chance-without-steph-curry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/16019\/","title":{"rendered":"Steve Kerr’s Game 1 masterpiece gives the Warriors a chance without Steph Curry"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Warriors\u2019 win on Tuesday<\/a> wasn\u2019t just a show of strength in numbers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

No, the Warriors\u2019 Game 1 victory was shock and awe.<\/p>\n

When Steph Curry left the opening matchup of the Warriors\u2019 Western Conference Semifinal series against the Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a>, Golden State had a five-point lead with 33 minutes to play.<\/p>\n

So how did they lead by as many as 23 points and never see the margin get within eight, even as Minnesota made a furious fourth-quarter push?<\/p>\n

It took everyone and everything.<\/p>\n

It was a championship effort with championship heart.<\/p>\n

But make no mistake about who authored it.<\/p>\n

Yes, it was the players on the court. Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green; Buddy Hield and Gary Payton II; Pat Spencer and Kevon Looney. The Warriors rolled deep on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

But the Game 1 win was organizational; the kind of victory you can only credit to a winning culture.<\/p>\n

It was a credit to Warriors coach Steve Kerr.<\/p>\n

The man has four championship rings as a coach for a reason, and it wasn\u2019t just being in the right place at the right time.<\/p>\n

Sure, he might be considered a \u201chapless rube<\/a>\u201d by a certain attention-starved, edgelord, venture-capital tweeter, but he turned in a brilliant coaching performance Tuesday.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t simply because he went deep into his bench.<\/p>\n

No, it was the Dubs\u2019 game plan from the opening tip: attack a Minnesota defense that was ill-prepared to handle the Warriors\u2019 relentless off-ball movement, all while leaving a bad half-court offensive team that lacks a viable point guard to try to navigate through Golden State\u2019s zone defense, with Green running the show in the middle.<\/p>\n

Minnesota was at a tactical disadvantage all game. They couldn\u2019t figure out the Dubs, and Kerr\u2019s constant substitutions and adaptations only made matters more difficult for the home team.<\/p>\n

\"GoldenGolden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) gestures during the first half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Tuesday, May 6, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo\/Abbie Parr)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Unrested and, frankly, uneasy heading into Game 1 after a Game 7 win on Sunday in Houston, Kerr planned on having a deeper rotation for the contest. A new series means new combinations, and going deep into the bench gave the Warriors the added benefit of providing tired legs a bit of a rest.<\/p>\n

But do you know anything about Braxton Key? Well, he was on the court for the Warriors at the end of the third quarter.<\/p>\n

In all, Kerr played 13 Warriors Tuesday. He played 14 in the Warriors\u2019 Oct. 15 preseason game.<\/p>\n

Not all the minutes were created equal. Moses Moody is so deep into a funk he might require an exorcism. Gui Santos\u2019 nearly four minutes were eminently forgettable. Quinten Post played half a quarter, and only had one rebound to speak for it (but was plus-14).<\/p>\n

But on a night without their superstar, the Warriors saw winning performances from Buddy Hield, who scored 22 vital second-half points, including a dagger 3, Spencer, a G-League guard whose 10 second-half minutes were a lifeline to the team, Kevon Looney, who spelled Green and kept the Warriors\u2019 defense at the same level, and even Jonathan Kuminga, who for the first time in months looked as if he understood what Kerr and his coaching staff have been begging him to do.<\/p>\n

The Warriors didn\u2019t see Curry go down and yell, \u201cSave us, Jimmy.\u201d No, they saved themselves. They were empowered to do so.<\/p>\n

And while Curry\u2019s injury has turned this series on its head, so has the Dubs\u2019 Game 1 win.<\/p>\n

\"GoldenGolden State Warriors guard Buddy Hield (7) celebrates during the second half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Tuesday, May 6, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo\/Abbie Parr)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Curry won\u2019t play in Game 2, and it\u2019d be reckless to suggest that he\u2019ll be back for Game 3 or even 4 at this moment. Word from Minneapolis is that Curry\u2019s limp was anything but minor. He\u2019ll have an MRI on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

And while the Warriors have won in the playoffs without Curry before, that was in 2016 and 2018.<\/p>\n

These Warriors, impressive as they might look in the Butler era, are not the 73-win Dubs or the league-ruining Warriors of two year later.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why, despite stealing home-court advantage on Tuesday, the Warriors\u2019 odds of winning the series in Las Vegas only went from plus-150 to plus-130. The Timberwolves are still favored. (Under normal circumstances, the Warriors would carry negative odds following that win.)<\/p>\n

Curry looked poised to cook the Wolves for 40-plus points in Game 1, as somehow four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert was put in the twilight zone against the Warriors\u2019 high ball screens. Curry had 13 points in 13 minutes played.<\/p>\n

But because the Dubs were able to hold on Tuesday, they gave themselves a lifeline.<\/p>\n

They can afford to drop Game 2.<\/p>\n

And Curry looked so lethal that they can likely afford to have a lesser version of him should he be able to return to this series.<\/p>\n

The Warriors have to expect that this is going to be another long, drawn-out series\u2014and that\u2019s the best-case scenario.<\/p>\n

It will take some masterful coaching to manage it all the way through.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a good thing the Dubs have a master at the helm.<\/p>\n

Originally Published: May 7, 2025 at 5:00 AM PDT<\/p>\n