Ice-cold Timberwolves show fight late, but fall to Warriors in Game 1 of West semifinal

Target Center was rocking and the Minnesota Timberwolves gave the crowd plenty to cheer for in the first 12 minutes.

The crowd didn't have much to cheer for over the remaining 36 minutes. The Golden State Warriors opened the second quarter on a 15-0 run and they never looked back, even after Steph Curry exited the game with a hamstring injury, as Golden State downed the ice-cold Wolves 99-88 in Game 1 of a Western Conference semifinal Tuesday in Minneapolis.

The Wolves did show some fight. Despite facing a 20-point deficit entering the fourth quarter, they cut it down to single digits thrice — when Rudy Gobert hit a free throw with 6:47 remaining and when Anthony Edwards got an and-1 layup with 3:30 to go and when he drilled a 3-pointer the next possession after Gary Payton II had answered with a 3 for the Warriors.

That was all too little, too late as most of the damage had been done over the prior two quarters.

While the Warriors were knocking down 3s — Draymond Green made four in the first half — during the second-quarter run and pulling away, the Wolves couldn't hit the broadside of a barn. The shot just 14 for 44 in the opening 24 minutes, including an 0-for-15 mark from 3. And even after a left hamstring strain forced Curry to exit the game midway through the second quarter, the Wolves were never able to find a rhythm in the half, falling behind 44-31 at the halftime break.

"We had no floor spacing, no rhythm, didn't make the next pass a lot of times," Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said postgame. "Really poor in transition. I think that's where we kind of cost ourselves the chance to stay in the game early. We had opportunities to run out, and out transition decision-making was diabolical. Obviously, we couldn't hit a shot, but I didn't like the fact that we couldn't repeatedly generate good shots. We should have been able to."

The Warriors, on the other hand, were able to time and time again. And they got something from everyone to overcome the loss of Curry. Buddy Hield hit big shots when the Wolves rallied and led the team with 24 points. Jimmy Butler, who was booed every time he touched the ball, put up 20 points, 11 boards — seven offensive — eight assists and two steals. Green had 18 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals. The Warriors shot 18 for 42 from long range (43%).

After an 11-point second quarter, the Wolves rebounded with a 29-point third — though the 3s still weren't falling — but they gave up 36 points to the Curry-less Warriors. Minnesota never found its shooting rhythm, going just 34 for 86 from the field (40%) and a mere 5 for 29 from 3-point range (17%). That's far from a successful formula to win playoff games, even if the Wolves did steal Game 5 against the Los Angeles Lakers despite missing a then-NBA record 40 3-pointers.

The Wolves have gone 12 for 76 from 3 in their last two games, the worst shooting stretch in NBA playoff history.

Despite the size advantage, the Wolves were outrebounded 51-41. Gobert set the tone early with six points and five rebounds in the opening frame, but finished with just nine points and 11 boards. Golden State grabbed 18 offensive rebounds and turned them into 13 second-chance points. Edwards finished with 23 points, 14 rebounds, three steals, two assists and a block, but shot just 9 for 22, and Finch said postgame he felt Edwards' energy was lacking from the start. Julius Randle had 18 points and six assists, but grabbed just three rebounds. A bit of everything went wrong on Tuesday.

"I myself, I gotta be better," Randle said. "I can't have three rebounds. Like we said from the beginning, we all got to play better. I gotta play better as an individual. I can't come away from this game playing 30 minutes and have three rebounds, so I gotta play better."

The Warriors stole Game 1 — or if you ask the Wolves, they gave it away — in Minneapolis. Minnesota will look to bounce back, and shake off its shooting struggles, in Game 2, scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. CT tipoff Thursday night at Target Center.