The second game of the Western Conference Semifinals took place Thursday night. The Golden State Warriors had a 1-0 lead over the Timberwolves. The Warriors were without star Guard Steph Curry with an ankle injury he suffered in Game 1. Would “Playoff Jimmy Butler” show up and be able to carry this Warriors team to a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference Semifinals? Or will the Timberwolves even the series at 1-1? Let’s dive into the Game 2 recap.
Timberwolves Make a Fast Start
The first quarter would start with the Timberwolves striking first with Jaden McDaniels hitting a 24-foot three with the assist from Julius Randle. The Wolves would start on a 13-0 run to start Game 2. The Warriors would not put points on the board until the 7:05 mark when Butler hit a 26-foot three with the assist coming from Draymond Green. The Timberwolves would keep their foot on the gas, though, and ended the first quarter with a 29-15 lead.
The second quarter would start, and the first team to score would be the Wolves, with Nickeil Alexander-Walker making a driving finger roll, with the assist coming from Naz Reid, making it 31-15. The Wolves would keep complete control of the second quarter. By the 6:38 mark, the score would be 37-19 after a McDaniels free throw. The Warriors would try to get it as close as they could at the 2:24 mark on a Buddy Hield running finger roll, with Green making the assist. The end of the first half would come, and the Timberwolves would lead 56-39.
Timberwolves Keep It Up In Second Half
The second half would start with Butler trying to chip away at this lead with a driving finger roll layup to make the score 56-41. The Wolves would keep a comfortable lead for much of the third quarter until the 7:52 mark when Butler hit a floating jump shot from six feet out to make it 62-49. From this point on, the Warriors would continue to chip away at the lead with eventually getting the score to 62-55 on a Hield three-pointer. That would be as close as the Warriors would get with the score at the end of three being 85-65.
The fourth and final quarter would start with Green hitting a layup to make it 85-67 with Brandin Podziemski on the assist. Edwards made a driving finger roll layup to make the score 104-85. The final score would be the Timberwolves getting the win, 117-93, and evening the series up. The series will head to San Francisco on Saturday with the tip coming at 8:30, and you can watch the game on ABC as it will be a nationally televised game.
Final Thoughts
The series took a turn with the injury to Curry and him possibly being out for a week. The player of the game for me was Randle with 24 points, 11 assists, and 7 rebounds in 33 minutes. The series is tied one to one, and it can be any team’s series to take. The Warriors will have to have some of their role players step up with Curry being sidelined. This series will be a great one to watch and stay up to date on. So please stay tuned to Total Apex Sports for all things NBA Playoffs.
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