On Wednesday, the Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors will square off at Target Centre, both teams hoping to start their Western Conference semi-final clash with a victory.
While the away team defeated the Houston Rockets in seven games to become the first number seven seed to defeat the number two seed since 1984, the home team just needed five games to defeat the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round.
Given the combined strength of LeBron James and Luka Doncic, many predicted that the Minnesota Timberwolves would struggle against the Lakers. However, their 4-1 series triumph shows that this was not the case.
After splitting the first two games at Crypto.com Arena, Chris Finch’s team grabbed charge of the match by winning both of their home games to take a 3-1 advantage that has only been overtaken 13 times before.
The Timberwolves defeated the Lakers 103-96 in Game Five on Thursday, completing the job despite LeBron James, the leader of what may have been the most famous comeback in NBA history. The Timberwolves defeated the Lakers for the second consecutive game in Los Angeles.
Julius Randle was on fire for the Timberwolves during the series, averaging 22.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.4 assists on 48% shooting from the field, driven by the extra motivation of playing against his old team.
Anthony Edwards, who scored a club-high 26.8 points per game despite having a rather lacklustre performance in the closeout game, will need to step up for his squad once more.
After winning each of the previous five games, Wednesday’s hosts will be looking to get the upper hand in this matchup after losing their last three encounters with the Warriors.
Undoubtedly, the Golden State Warriors made their first-round series against the Houston Rockets more difficult than it needed to be, but ultimately, the sense of relief outweighed any anxiety before the game.
Steve Kerr’s team had wasted a 3-1 lead from a comfortable position and was desperate to prevent a recurrence of their 2016 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers going into Monday’s Game Seven at Toyota Centre.
With so much focus on players like Jimmy Butler and Steph Curry, Buddy Hield emerged victorious from Houston with a 33-point offensive burst, including 9-11 three-point shooting, to lead his team to a 103-89 victory.
The Warriors, who are back in the second round for the first time since losing to the Lakers in 2023, will now take on a Timberwolves team that has recently made headlines in the West as they continue their title run.
Wednesday’s visitors have a short window of time to recuperate before returning to the road for another crucial match as they get ready to play just 48 hours after an exciting victory in Houston.
