Golden State Warriors @ Minnesota Timberwolves
Thursday, May 8, 2025 at 8:30 PM ET
Target Center, Minneapolis, MN | Game ID: 42400232
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
MIN 29 27 29 32 117GSW 15 24 26 28 93
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Timberwolves beat Curry-less Warriors 117-93 in Game 2 to even series
MINNEAPOLIS -- — The Minnesota Timberwolves were stewing over their rough start in Game 1 against Golden State, a reaction coach Chris Finch was pleased to see.
Julius Randle had 24 points and 11 assists to help the Timberwolves capitalize on Warriors star Stephen Curry’s absence in a 117-93 victory Thursday that tied the second-round series at a game apiece.
The foundation was laid in an ornery film session with Finch and his staff the day before.
"He was unhappy, and he let us know he was unhappy, and we felt that,” Randle said. “We were pretty motivated as a team.”
Anthony Edwards finished with 20 points after an injury scare for the Wolves, who more than tripled their 3-point output (going 16 for 37) from their Game 1 loss when Curry was sidelined by a left hamstring strain that likely will keep him out at least until next week .
Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 20 points to spearhead a superb performance by the bench, combining with Donte DiVincenzo and Naz Reid to go 10 for 22 from deep.
“We looked a lot more like ourselves,” Finch said.
Jonathan Kuminga (18 points) and Trayce Jackson-Davis (15) combined to shoot 14 for 17 from the floor for the Warriors. They took nearly five minutes to score, finally breaking through down 13-0 on Jimmy Butler's 3-pointer.
With the NBA's career leading 3-point shooter next to him on the bench, coach Steve Kerr used a kitchen-sink experiment with 14 players getting time.
“But I would still like to win,” Butler said. “I think the biggest lesson is don’t start off in a hole like we did tonight, and the game maybe could have ended up a little bit differently.”
Kuminga, the seventh overall pick in the 2021 draft who dropped out of the rotation at times during the regular season and missed significant time with a sprained right ankle, was a bright spot off the bench. But this Warriors team was already thin on offense with a healthy Curry.
“We have to figure out what we’re going to be able to do in this series without Steph," Kerr said. “So we gave a lot of people a lot of chances, and some guys really stepped up.”
Against the Wolves and their athletic, long and versatile defense, there wasn't much to lean on. Without Curry to worry about, the Wolves had an easier time keeping shooters Buddy Hield and Brandin Podziemski quiet.
The Warriors put up their lowest first-quarter score (15) in the playoffs since Game 6 of the 2016 NBA Finals, according to Sportradar, when they had 11 in a loss to Cleveland.
Draymond Green picked up his fifth technical foul of the playoffs, two short of an automatic one-game suspension, for elbowing Naz Reid after Reid had just fouled him.
MIN KarmaHide StintsShow StintsHide PMShow PMHide KarmaShow KarmaHide ScoresShow Scores
Who
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
MINAE A. Edwards
DD D. DiVincenzo
JC J. Clark
JM J. McDaniels
JM J. Minott
JR J. Randle
LG L. Garza
LM L. Miller
MC M. Conley
NA N. Alexander-Walker
NR N. Reid
RG R. Gobert
TS T. Shannon Jr.
GSWBH B. Hield
BK B. Key
BP B. Podziemski
DG D. Green
GP G. Payton II
GS G. Santos
JB J. Butler III
JK J. Kuminga
KK K. Knox II
MM M. Moody
PS P. Spencer
TJ T. Jackson-Davis
MIN/GSW the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur