Minnesota Timberwolves exploit Curry's absence to tie series with Warriors

The Minnesota Timberwolves took advantage of Stephen Curry's absence and beat the Golden State Warriors 117-93 on Thursday to even this NBA Western Conference Semifinal series at 1-1.

Anthony Edwards, the Timberwolves star, scored 20 points in a clash in which he struck fear into the Target Center in Minneapolis by leaving before halftime with an ankle injury.

The young guard returned in the second half to secure a vital win for Minnesota, which had dropped the first game of the series on Tuesday despite Curry's early exit.

"It feels good, it feels good," Edwards merely said of his ankle at the end of the clash.

Julius Randle, with 24 points and 11 assists, was the other star for a Timberwolves that wants to take as much of a lead as possible before Curry's eventual return.

Without their leader, who will be out for at least a week with a hamstring injury, the Warriors struggled on offense to the point that coach Steve Kerr emptied his bench in search of solutions.

Reserve forward Jonathan Kuminga was the top scorer for the visitors with 18 points, followed by Jimmy Butler with 17.

The Warriors had not played a Playoff game without Curry since 2018, the emblem of the dynasty winner of four rings in the last decade.

Offensive logjam

After their disastrous Game 1 performance, the Timberwolves dominated Thursday from start to finish, going from 17% 3-point shooting to 43% and restoring the defensive prowess with which they eliminated the Lakers in the first round.

"We re-watched the game yesterday and realized that [the problem] more than missing shots, was that we didn't put in our defensive effort and our intensity. We knew we had to today," Edwards said.

The Timberwolves set the tone from the start with a 13-0 run with back-to-back 3-pointers from Jaden McDaniels (16 points) and Mike Conley (6).

With Curry watching from the bench, it took the Warriors five minutes to get on the scoreboard with a 3-pointer from Butler.

Kerr rummaged through his entire bench for some offensive solution and in the first half went as far as using 14 players, which has not been seen in the Playoffs since 1998.

"Part of the game plan was to put a lot of players in," Kerr explained. "Because of fatigue from so many games and travel, on one hand, but also because we have to find a solution for this series without Steph. We gave opportunities and many players took advantage of them."

"We had a formula but without Steph it's gone out the window," he acknowledged.

Edwards' scare

With the game tilted in their favor, Timberwolves players and fans got a huge scare when Edwards was injured on a drive to the basket with six minutes left before halftime.

Edwards was blocked in the air by center Trayce Jackson-Davis, who stepped on the All-Star guard's left ankle as he fell.

After several sore minutes, Edwards was helped to the locker room and the Timberwolves advanced that his return to the game was doubtful.

Edwards, however, was back in the game at the start of the second half, when the Warriors reacted with Kuminga, a player who has hardly been in Kerr's lineup in the Playoffs.

The Congolese forward, who made his first eight shots of the game, commanded a 19-9 run bringing the visitors back within 7 points, at 65-58, and made the crowd fear with another of the epic comebacks that have been seen across the league in these Playoffs.

Two straight 3-pointers by Naz Reid and Donte DiVincenzo cooled Golden State's outburst and restored Minnesota's confidence to pull away for good despite Edwards' physical limitations.

The series will move to the Warriors' home court in San Francisco for Game 3 on Saturday.