The Timberwolves defeated the Warriors 117-93, with a big score of 1-1! Let s talk about the 6 players of the Warriors

On May 9, the war in the eastern and western semi-finals of the NBA playoffs was in full swing, and the Eastern Conference stadium suddenly changed, and two favorite teams to win the championship failed at home. The Cavaliers were defeated by the Pacers two consecutive games, and the road to promotion was originally promising was instantly full of thorns; and the Celtics, as the defending champion, were even more shockingly reversed by the Knicks in two consecutive home games. The Celtics suddenly "fall" in the division semifinals, and the root cause of the problem lies in their over-reliance on three-point shooting. As the saying goes, "A thousand-mile dike is destroyed by an ant hole", the seemingly powerful three-point tactic has become their fatal weakness at critical moments. In sharp contrast, the Thunder team, which has the highest record in the Western Conference regular season, defended their home victory in the G2 game, swept away the previous haze with a hearty 43-point victory, and showed strong strength. After the game, Jokic was completely defeated and said bluntly: Our strength is too far from them. Although the Warriors defeated the Timberwolves in the first game, the whole team was not happy. The team's core Curry will miss at least one week due to a hamstring injury. This means that Curry is completely unable to play in the next G2 to G4 games. If the series is dragged to G5, Curry will have an 8-day break. But there are obviously many difficulties in the library. Can 8 days really be completely cured? After returning, what is your state? Harden suffered a second-degree hamstring strain during the Nets. He returned after more than a month of rest and was in no form. In the Battle of Tianwang Mountain, he made only 1 of 10 shots. According to the Warriors, Curry has been sitting in the locker room after being injured, tears of depression thrust out of his eyes. In Cole's words: "Without Curry saving us, everyone has to stand up and we have to rely on our own defense to win." Butler, another core member of the Warriors, also said that he may not be able to reach Curry's level of restraint, but he will try to find a way to both score and drive the entire team. At the beginning of the game, the Warriors were obviously affected by the absence of core Curry and the offensive end could not find the rhythm at all. Within the first five minutes, the Warriors returned in 7 consecutive offenses without a single point, setting a record for the worst start of the playoffs this season. The Timberwolves seized the opportunity, with Edwards and Towns hitting the inside continuously, setting off a perfect 13-0 start, which made home fans in a boil. At the end of the first quarter, the Warriors scored only 15 points, shooting as low as 28.6%, and 0 of 7 three-pointers. In the second quarter, the Warriors' offense still did not improve, but the Timberwolves' shooting percentage also declined significantly. The turning point occurred in the middle of the second quarter. Edwards accidentally stepped on TJD's foot when he made a breakthrough layup. After falling to the ground in pain, he was helped back to the locker room. This accident disrupted the Timberwolves' offensive rhythm, and at the end of the half, the Warriors were still 17 points behind 42-59.

The Warriors finally got some form back after the second half. Butler and Hilder made consecutive three-pointers, narrowing the gap to single digits at one point. But the good times didn't last long. The Timberwolves regained their defensive intensity at the end of the third quarter. Reed and McDaniels made consecutive key three-pointers, helping the team to achieve a 12-2 climax. After the three quarters, the score difference expanded to 20 points. In the last quarter, the Warriors were unable to organize an effective counterattack. The Timberwolves' defensive strategy is very clear, focusing on guarding Hilder and Butler, cutting off the Warriors' outside firepower. In the end, the Timberwolves defeated the Warriors 117-93, tied the series to 1-1. This battle also allowed me to fully see the status of the following Warriors players.

①, In this game, Butler tried his best to fulfill his promise to lead the team to win, but it can be seen that Butler is already old. In the first half, Butler was very efficient in offensively and actively connected and led his teammates, but his efficiency in the second half was significantly reduced. In the game where Butler joined the Warriors without Curry, Butler led the team with offensive efficiency reached the league average, and his defensive efficiency entered the top 1% of the league, with a net better than his opponent by 12.8 points per 100 rounds. But today, facing the Timberwolves, Butler made 6 of 13 shots, 2 of 3 points and 4 shots, scoring 17 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. If the Warriors want to win, Butler needs to play the Heat playoff victory to attract double teams to create opportunities for Hilder and others.

②, Kumingga's condition is recovering, which is worthy of Cole's heavy responsibility. After joining Butler, Kumingga was completely marginalized. Kumingga had few opportunities in the last few key games of the regular season and the first round of the 7-game series with the Rockets. Although he sometimes got a little chance, he struggled due to his limited playing time. Curry was absent. Butler needed to organize and connect and defend to score, which also allowed Kumingga to get more opportunities. Kumingga was prepared in this game. Kumingga made 8 of 11 shots in this game, scoring 18 points and 5 rebounds.

What is puzzling is that Kumingga is in such a good state, and Cole still did not give Kumingga too much playing time. At the beginning of the third quarter, when Kumingga was there, the Warriors once narrowed the score difference to 7 points, but after Kumingga got out, the Warriors were beaten an 18-5 attack wave, and the score difference suddenly reached 20 points. In this game, Kumingga only played for 26 minutes. You should know that Kumingga is only 23 years old and has sufficient physical fitness. Cole should give him more than 38 minutes of playing time.

③, Dream-Chasing Green did not fulfill the responsibilities that the veteran should bear today! Curry is absent, and the team's important rotation is difficult. Green's role in the team is self-evident, but Zhu Meng Green is still not calm enough on the offensive end. He hit Reed in the head with his actions and was called a technical foul. In this way, Green has suspended a total of two technical fouls and missed the G3 game. In this game, Green was in no shape, with 3 of 10 shots on the offensive end, 1 of 3 points and 6 shots, 9 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists, and the value provided by both offense and defense is not much.

④, Podjemsky needs to bravely stand up and take responsibility. Curry is absent. Podjem should have more opportunities to dominate the ball and show himself on the offensive end, but today Podjem made 4 of 9, 1 of 3 points and 4, scoring 11 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. Since the playoffs, Bogem has averaged 10 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3 assists per game, with a shooting percentage of 36.2% and 32.7% in both events. If the Warriors want to win, they need Bogem to play more resolutely.

⑤. This game allows people to fully see the importance of Curry. In some games, Curry may not score many points due to his poor feel, but his ability to restrain himself is too strong. Even if he is not accurate in shooting, his opponents dare not let go easily. From beginning to end of the game, there are basically a bunch of people chasing Curry, which allows Hilde and Green to get many open opportunities. Without Curry, the Warriors played too hard.

⑥, Cole took a 14-man rotation in this game, and this move is also a more reasonable lineup. However, some players are really disappointing. In addition to Payton's score at zero, Moody's performance is completely crazy. He made 0 of 5 shots, 0 of 3 points and 4 shots, and scored 3 points with free throws and 2 rebounds. After getting a three-year, $39 million contract renewal, Moody completely started health basketball. He couldn't play at all and could shoot three-nos, which was simply joking.