Lakers<\/a>, the Wolves had nearly a week to rest, recalibrate, and prepare for a Warriors team that just barely escaped a Game 7 street fight with Houston. Then Golden State walked into Target Center, Steph Curry strained his hamstring 13 minutes into the game… and somehow, the Wolves still lost.<\/p>\nIf you\u2019re a longtime fan, you knew what was coming. You\u2019ve seen this before. The Wolves are like the guy who wins the Powerball, then loses it all on Dogecoin and a failed bowling alley startup in Duluth. They build your hopes up\u2014then nosedive into the nearest brick wall with a dazed smile.<\/p>\n
Look, is this any different from blowing a 24-point fourth quarter lead to the Bucks? Or the time they lost to the Wizards in February? The Wolves have developed an elite skill for inventing new, infuriating ways to lose games they should win. That\u2019s the bad news.<\/p>\n
The good news? They\u2019ve also developed an equally potent skill: responding when nobody believes in them.<\/p>\n
After Game 1, they\u2019ve officially hit rock bottom\u2014or whatever comes just before magma. And if this team has shown us anything over the last six months, it\u2019s that they play their best when their backs are against the wall, their egos are bruised, and everyone has written them off. Game 2 is a classic Wolves moment. All eyes on Ant. All eyes on Rudy. All eyes on Finch. Do they punch back or roll over?<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s talk about what needs to happen.<\/p>\n
Key #1: Hit Your Damn Shots<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s get the obvious out of the way. Minnesota went 5-for-29 from three. That\u2019s 17%. Couple that with their 7-for-47 output in Game 5 and it\u2019s not just bad\u2014it\u2019s historic, Hall of Fame\u2013level futility. And it wasn\u2019t just one guy going cold\u2014it was an entire team effort in bricks and confusion:<\/p>\n
Julius Randle: 0-for-3
\nJaden McDaniels: 0-for-3
\nMike Conley: 0-for-2
\nNickeil Alexander-Walker: 0-for-2
\nAnt: 1-for-5
\nDonte DiVincenzo: 1-for-7
\nNaz Reid (bless him): 3-for-7<\/p>\n
That\u2019s everyone. Every single guy not named Naz couldn\u2019t throw a rock into Lake Minnetonka.<\/p>\n
The worst part? These weren\u2019t contested, circus-shot heaves. A lot of them were open, in-rhythm shots. Just clank after clank after clank. You don\u2019t need to shoot 50%. Just be passable. Just revert to the mean. That\u2019s enough.<\/p>\n
Key #2: Lock Down Buddy Hield<\/p>\n
Steph is out\u2014until Game 5, 6, or perhaps beyond. The Warriors\u2019 offensive engine is sidelined. So what does that mean? It means the Wolves cannot\u2014cannot\u2014let Buddy Hield play the role of budget Steph Curry and rain hellfire from deep.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s already done it in Game 7 against Houston. Then he drops 24 points on 5-of-8 from three against Minnesota. You think Draymond or Jimmy Butler are going to beat you offensively? They\u2019ll make big plays, but they aren\u2019t lighting you up. Buddy is the flamethrower. Blow it out.<\/p>\n
Throw Jaden at him. Stick NAW on him. Maybe even use Jaylen Clark\u2019s fresh legs in spurts. But you cannot leave Buddy open. You cannot sag off. You cannot help away. Face-guard him if you have to. Shut off the valve and let Golden State figure out how to beat you without their most potent long-range weapon and their safety valve.<\/p>\n
Key #3: Control the Glass Like You Actually Have the Size Advantage<\/p>\n
You\u2019d think a frontcourt of Gobert, Randle, and Naz Reid would dominate the boards. Especially against a small-ball Golden State squad playing Draymond at center. But no, the Wolves got out-rebounded 51-41.<\/p>\n
Unacceptable.<\/p>\n
Yes, part of this was due to the Wolves missing so many shots, but rebounding is about effort, not just size. There were too many Warriors second-chance buckets. Too many offensive rebounds. And Rudy\u2014who was getting yanked, held, and wrestled like he was in a WWE tag match\u2014has to rise above it.<\/p>\n
The league may or may not respond to Finch\u2019s formal complaints. Doesn\u2019t matter. The Wolves need a team-wide effort to control the boards. Grab the rock. Hold it. Don\u2019t assume Rudy will do it for you.<\/p>\n
Key #4: Anthony Edwards, We Need the Cape<\/p>\n
This team takes its cues from Ant. When he\u2019s passive? Everyone looks confused. When he\u2019s hunting? The offense hums. In Game 1, Edwards had one point at halftime. One. He was 0-for-everything. Missed layups. Missed jumpers. Even missed a free throw.<\/p>\n
Then in the second half, we saw a flicker. A few drives. A few stops. But by then, it was too late.<\/p>\n
Edwards doesn\u2019t need to go nuclear. He doesn\u2019t need to drop 43 like Game 4 vs. L.A. He just needs to lead. Attack. Move the defense. Kick to shooters. Draw fouls. Flex. Snarl. Make the Warriors feel his presence from the opening tip.<\/p>\n
Because as we\u2019ve seen time and time again\u2014when Ant gets rolling, the rest of the Wolves follow.<\/p>\n
Game 2 might not be technically a must-win, but spiritually? It\u2019s a must-win. You can\u2019t drop two games at home. Not when Curry is sidelined. Not when Buddy Hield is their #1 option. Not after what happened Tuesday.<\/p>\n
There are moments in every playoff run where the true identity of a team is revealed. This is one of them. Are these the same old Timberwolves\u2014the lovable, infuriating rollercoaster we\u2019ve ridden for two decades? Or are they something different now? Are they ready to be a real contender?<\/p>\n
We find out tonight. Let\u2019s hope the ride is headed back up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Golden State Warriors – Game 1Date: May 8th, 2025Time: 7:30 PM CDTLocation: Target CenterTelevision Coverage:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17798,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3782],"tags":[7,1076,28,142,1077,307,152,3954,6,11,34,1366,308,1369,143,255],"class_list":{"0":"post-17797","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-timberwolves","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-canis","10":"tag-front-page","11":"tag-game","12":"tag-hoopus","13":"tag-minnesota","14":"tag-minnesota-timberwolves","15":"tag-minnesotatimberwolves","16":"tag-nba","17":"tag-nba-playoffs","18":"tag-playoffs","19":"tag-preview","20":"tag-timberwolves","21":"tag-timberwolves-game-previews","22":"tag-vs","23":"tag-warriors"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114470525625142057","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}