The Golden State Warriors won Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, but it came at a price. Stephen Curry suffered a hamstring strain and exited the game, and he is expected to be out through at least Game 4.
Without him in Game 2, they have struggled to put up enough points to be competitive. They scored just 39 points and trailed by 17 points at halftime, and head coach Steve Kerr was groping for some sort of solution.
He ended up playing a whopping 14 players in the first half of the contest, which is the highest number of players any team has put into a playoff game since at least 1998.
The Warriors are the first team to play 14 PLAYERS in the first half of a playoff game since at least 1998 😱
Golden State trails Minnesota 56-39 at the break. pic.twitter.com/UslaMv9ike
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) May 9, 2025
Through three quarters, Golden State was down 85-65. While Jimmy Butler, Jonathan Kuminga and big man Trayce Jackson-Davis showed some spark offensively, it just hasn’t had enough firepower to mount a serious challenge.
In Game 1, after Curry went out in the first half with his hamstring injury, the team used a balanced attack to come up with a 99-88 victory. Buddy Hield was its leading scorer with 24 points, while Butler scored 20 points and Draymond Green added 18 points.
The Warriors simply haven’t looked like the Warriors without Curry, and the situation has only energized the Timberwolves, especially on the defensive end. Minnesota finished the regular season sixth in defensive rating, and it is holding Curry’s squad down in submission.
Game 3 of this series will take place at Chase Center in San Francisco on Saturday. The Warriors are hoping their hometown fans will give them the proverbial shot in the arm they badly need right now.
Related: Draymond Green Makes His Thoughts Clear on Buddy Hield After Warriors Game