The Minnesota Timberwolves are heading back to a familiar place. The Wolves knocked off the Golden State Warriors 121-110 on Wednesday night to advance to the Western Conference finals.
The Wolves routed the seventh-seeded Warriors in a rowdy Game 5 environment, advancing to their second straight West finals. Six Minnesota players scored in double figures as Julius Randle led all scorers with 29 points. He also had eight rebounds and five assists. Anthony Edwards added 22 points, seven rebounds and 12 assists. Rudy Gobert scored 17 points and Mike Conley had 16 in an all-around performance.
Golden State made the most of its opportunities, but each time the Steph Curry-less Warriors made a run, the Wolves answered. Brandin Podziemski led Golden State with 28 points, Jonathan Kuminga scored 26 points and Jimmy Butler scored 17 points, grabbed six rebounds and tallied six assists.
The Wolves will face either the Denver Nuggets or the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Earlier in the night, the Boston Celtics lived to play another day, beating the New York Knicks 127-102 in Game 5, narrowing New York’s series lead to 3-2.
Boston won its first game of the series since the injury to star Jayson Tatum, who tore his Achilles in Game 4. The Knicks kept it tight in the first half but were outscored by the Celtics 32-17 in the third quarter. Derrick White led the way for Boston with 34 points, three rebounds and two assists, alongside Jaylen Brown’s 26 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds.
Jalen Brunson scored 22 for the Knicks before fouling out with more than seven minutes left in the fourth quarter.
The Knicks and Celtics play Friday at 8 p.m. ET.
Timberwolves 121, Warriors 110
(Wolves win series 4-1)
Warriors can only look ahead to the future
The Warriors’ season is over. They played their final four games without Curry and lost all four, failing to give his strained hamstring enough time to heal. Steve Kerr said before the game Wednesday that Curry could possibly return in Game 6, but there won’t be a Game 6.
Instead, the Warriors can only wonder what could’ve been with a healthy Curry in the second round and prep for a summer of questions about how best to fill out the rotation under Curry.
They believe they’ve given him the necessary second scorer and co-star. Jimmy Butler went quiet in the final two losses to Minnesota but fit brilliantly next to Curry upon his arrival at the trade deadline, forming an inside-outside scoring combo that delivered a floundering team back to fringe contention.
The Warriors surged from 11th place to seventh. They had the best defense in the league in the final two months. They went 23-7 when Curry and Butler were both in the lineup. They beat the second-seeded Rockets in the first round and were up 30-20 in Game 1 in Minnesota when Curry’s left hamstring gave, and their playoff chances essentially disappeared.
Draymond Green is expected back next to Curry and Butler. Below them, the Warriors will go searching for reinforcements via trade and the free-agent market. Kuminga’s future is in question. The restricted free agent could be retained or used in sign-and-trade scenarios to bring different talent back.
The Warriors could use a more impactful starting center and some supplementary shooting and scoring, providing more space for Butler, who struggled to find any once Curry went down. They could also use a leap from some of their young talent, such as Kuminga, Moses Moody and Podziemski, who all struggled at various points of the playoffs.
But that’s been the story the last couple of years for the two-timeline Warriors, attempting to compete at the end of Curry’s window while drafting and developing simultaneously. They haven’t escaped the second round since the 2022 title. — Anthony Slater, Warriors senior writer
Wolves’ early-season struggles are paying off
This Timberwolves season has been a slog at times. It was frustrating early in the season watching them struggle to incorporate Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo while Karl-Anthony Towns thrived in New York. But they never gave in to the struggle, they leaned into it. And now they are right back where they were last season, in the Western Conference finals.
They had to work for it. The Warriors, even without Curry, were spirited opponents the whole way through, including in Game 5. It looked like the Wolves were going to run away with it when they led by 21 to start the fourth quarter. But the Warriors cut it to 9 before the Wolves closed the door.
Now they are headed to back-to-back conference finals for the first time in franchise history. No matter who they face, they will go in confident they can win it.
Forever and ever, people in the league and in the market would use “typical Timberwolves” as a pejorative, implying dysfunction and losing. Now “typical Timberwolves” has a new meaning: contenders. — Jon Krawczynski, Wolves staff writer
Conley brings veteran presence in big win
Only complacency could’ve kept the Timberwolves from securing the Warriors series Wednesday night. The Wolves were aware. Ending things in Game 5 required a distinct degree of urgency, and who better to display that from the outset than the man who understands what that means more than any other? Who better to lead the Timberwolves on this night than veteran point guard Conley?
The 18-year pro impacts games in ways that aren’t always tangible. He whispers intel into Edwards’ ears during timeouts. When the Timberwolves’ coaching staff needs to disseminate a message, they can often rely on Conley. Sometimes, though, his production is paramount. Wednesday became one of those nights. The ball swung to him in rhythm, and Conley buried 3-pointers, hitting 4 of 6 attempts.
He zipped timely passes, too. Twice in the second quarter, Conley snagged deflections, then threaded passes between defenders toward center Gobert. Conley finished with 16 points and eight rebounds. The stat line was not spectacular, but Conley’s rarely is, even when he is stabilizing games that matter in his team’s pursuit of a title. — Alec Lewis, NBA staff writer
Celtics 127, Knicks 102
(Knicks lead series 3-2)
Knicks fall apart in the third quarter
The Knicks’ 25-year drought of not making the Eastern Conference finals will continue a few more days, at least.
After going into halftime tied with the Tatum-less Celtics, the Knicks had the doors blown off in the third quarter en route to a massive Boston win. New York’s transition defense was abysmal and allowed Boston’s best shooters to step into comfortable 3s. Then, the half-court defense began to crumble, and those same tremendous shooters were taking practice shots in a half-court setting.
The Knicks were in foul trouble for most of the night. Brunson had five fouls in the third quarter alone and fouled out with over seven minutes left in the game.
Boston’s defense was sound, and the tweak to have Brown guard Brunson paid off tremendously. New York shot 34 percent from the floor before coach Tom Thibodeau decided to pull his starters.
The Knicks still have a 3-2 series lead and need just one more victory to reach the Eastern Conference final. They need to wrap it up as soon as possible, though, as the fast-paced and well-rested Pacers are awaiting their next opponent.
However, despite leading the series, New York has a minus-30-plus point differential in this series. They’ve trailed big in every game. The Knicks can’t keep letting this happen. — James L. Edwards III, Knicks staff writer
Benching Porziņģis for Kornet pays off
Kristaps Porziņģis entered Game 5 shooting 5-for-18 in the series. Battling through an illness that first started impacting him in late February, he was clearly slow on both ends of the floor over the first four games. With Tatum sidelined by a ruptured Achilles tendon, the Celtics started Porziņģis next to Al Horford anyway.
The decision did not work. Over Porziņģis’ 12 first-half minutes, the Celtics were outscored by 12 points. He missed all three of his field goal attempts and grabbed only one rebound, continuing an ineffective playoff run. With the season on the line, coach Joe Mazzulla benched the big man for the entire second half.
To start the third quarter, Mazzulla replaced Porziņģis with Luke Kornet, who delivered one of his best halves ever. Kornet swatted five Knicks shots during an incredible third quarter. He finished with 10 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks to keep the Celtics alive. He was impactful enough in Game 5 that it’s even easier to question why Mazzulla stayed with Porziņģis as much as he did earlier in the series. — Jay King, Celtics staff writer
Rare fouls from Brunson
The surprise from Wednesday night wasn’t that the Celtics won in their home building. It’s how it happened. The Boston avalanche began at the beginning of the third quarter and didn’t stop. The Celtics drew fouls. They got to the free-throw line 18 times in the period. They drained 3s and got out in transition. The Knicks shot only 4 of 20 from the field in the third.
It was no surprise the defending champs could go on a potentially season-altering run, even without Tatum. But the shocker came with it: It seemed almost as if the Knicks let it happen.
Brunson, who rarely fouls, committed five fouls just in the third. The Knicks’ starting lineup, which has underwhelmed and was a minus-22 in this series, was struggling again. After strong first halves from reserves Mitchell Robinson and Miles “Deuce” McBride, Thibodeau didn’t make a substitution until late in the quarter. By the time the bench players came in, the Knicks had let go of the rope. — Fred Katz, senior NBA writer
Brown comes through for Boston
With Tatum gone, Brown had to step up. But he has looked like a shell of himself all series. Could he really transform into, well, Brown? There was no doubt by the end of the third quarter. Brown was not his usual explosive self, which may never be a thing for the rest of this still interminable playoff run. But he showed he can manage a game from the ground, executing every facet of the game plan to perfection after halftime.
The Celtics had a chance to get into the bonus early, so Brown kept driving at Towns and Brunson until the Celtics could just live at the line. He even got Brunson to foul out early in the fourth quarter, allowing the Celtics to hold onto a big lead.
Kornet changed the game in the second half, and White got them there, but Brown showed he can step up in Tatum’s absence to run this Celtics team the way they always have. Who knows if this will last through Game 6, but at least he can leave Celtics fans on a high note if this was their last time at TD Garden this season. — Jared Weiss, Celtics staff writer
(Photo: Ellen Schmidt / Getty Images)
