Stephen Curry came out. Golden State Warriors hopes that their shots will come in.
Warriors, Thursday, in the 2nd game of the Western Conference Semi -Finals series in Minneapolis on Thursday, when they oppose Minnesota Timberwolves, they encounter first full game tests without Curry. Golden State has 1-0 advantage in the top seven series and trying to steal a second flat victory on the road.
Tuesday’s series will not be easy without a curry who wounded the left hamstring in the second quarter of the opener. He scored 13 points in 13 minutes without continuing the injury expected to hold him out for at least a week.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr, New Orleans Pelicans’a 2018 Western Conference semi -finals since the first game of Curry has not missed a playoff game, although the team’s confidence in the rest of the team can continue to develop.
Since Curry was prepared by Warriors in 2009, the organization has a record of 8-3 in playoff games without it.
Kerr, “Every year playoffs are about to adapt – whether a game plan, a injury, a series, we need to adapt.” He said. “We’ve done this before. We’re sure we can do this again.”
Some of the reasons for Kerr’s trust is the existence of Jimmy Butler, who joined the team in February thanks to the trade with Miami Heat. Butler finished almost three floors with 20 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in the game 1. The game will play an even more important role in the game 2.
Kerr, “Steph will definitely trust Jimmy as we have for the last few months.” He said. “We ran everything through Jimmy, but we cannot trust him to create every shot. We must carry out aggressively.”
Minnesota, both teams, even before going to San Francisco, even enthusiastic. Timberwolves looked rusty after a five -day lack of the serial opener and looked more sharper in aggressive way.
Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards said he and his teammates would not live much in a disappointing opener. Minnesota scored only one point in the first half because it fell 23 points before withdrawing a single digit.
“I’m looking at the Edwards that we need to play more individually, including each of us, including myself.” He said. “And we’ll see how he’s going.”
In addition to Edwards, which attracts 9 of 22 and makes a 3-processor in the series, Timberwolves is also looking for better shots than backcourt participants such as Donte Divinenzo (3 of 11) and Mike Conley (0/5).
Julius Randle said he was motivated to play better. He scored 18 points against the Warriors in the opener, but finished with only three rebounds.
“I can’t get three rebounds, Rand Randle said. “We should all play better. I have to play better as an individual. I can’t play for 30 minutes and get three rebounds from this game, so I have to play better.”
For Golden State, Curry’s absence can create additional scoring opportunities for distance shooters such as Buddy Hield and Brandin Podziemski. Hield will get the highest 24 points of the team in the serial opener, while Podziemski will try to return from a rough performance that he missed six of seven shots and five of the 3 -point range.
Kerr said Curry’s players would be motivated to play well.
“I don’t have to make a speech for Steph,” Kerr said. “Everyone knows. They want to do it for him. Nobody has to say that.”
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