Timberwolves Take Charge in NBA Playoffs Without Curry

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00:00Okay, so the Timberwolves are like apparently the only team in the NBA that got the memo.

00:05If you're a big favorite, you got to beat a team.

00:07You got to crush a team.

00:08I know Oklahoma City did last game too.

00:10I understand that.

00:11But like this was like finally something that was supposed to happen happened.

00:15I guess the question from here is, Gilbert, did you see enough from Minnesota to think

00:19that they could just now run through the Warriors without Steph?

00:23Yeah, I mean, you look at the definition of responding, and I think that some of the teams

00:27can take a note or two from what Oklahoma City and Minnesota did in game two in their respective

00:31series.

00:32I think the big thing about it, though, is just the Warriors have no chance without Stephen

00:36Curry, and that's the reality of it.

00:38And the Timberwolves took advantage of that.

00:39They still had to show up and make plays, and they made plays from the beginning, getting

00:42off to a great start and really just identifying and letting them know that they didn't have

00:46a chance in that game.

00:47It's going to be a little bit of a different story when the series goes back to the Bay

00:50Area, but I have full confidence in Minnesota, especially given what they showed last night

00:54and especially the fact that Golden State this season and throughout the playoff series,

00:58no surprise, just isn't the same without Stephen Curry on the court.

01:02Let's hit Julius Randle real quick.

01:0324.7 rebounds, 11 assists, 10 of 17 from the field.

01:07I mean, these were the numbers I thought we'd see from Anthony Edwards in game one, and

01:11then, of course, he got hurt a little bit in game two, but this is somebody stepping up

01:14that they really needed.

01:16Absolutely, and it's been a big playoffs for Julius Randle because the notion on him coming

01:20into these playoffs was, can he perform in the postseason?

01:23He's had struggles during his time with the Knicks in the playoffs, and that was the big

01:27knock on him, and him stepping up, he did it in the Lakers series against his former

01:30team, and he's doing it again now in this series against the Golden State Warriors, just

01:34stepping up, being able to be a playmaker, rebounding, taking advantage of the thin front

01:38court that the Warriors have, that mismatch advantage, either it's Randle, either it's

01:42Gobert on the boards, and that's been the difference, especially in game two.

01:47So now, right now, the Warriors are plus 265, so obviously, if you think that they have

01:53a shot to win this without Steph, this is the best odds you're going to get as they

01:56go back to the Bay Area.

01:58Total amount of games still over five and a half minus 188, so, you know, Gilbert, I

02:03don't know, when I look at these odds, you know, tell me if I'm wrong here, if Minnesota

02:07just wins the next three, series is over, and look at this, you get plus 152 on under

02:12five and a half games.

02:14I guess the assumption is maybe Curry would come back for a fifth game, but I mean, I

02:19don't know about you, I don't see Minnesota winning the next, or Golden State winning

02:22either of the next two.

02:25Yeah, a lot has to go wrong for Minnesota, and a lot has to go right for Golden State in

02:28order for them to get one of these two games at home without Steph and Curry.

02:32I think there's a path, but it seems like an unlikely path.

02:35Now, Steph Curry coming back in game five, potentially, he's talked about where he is, he said, he can't

02:39do anything other than stationary shooting right now.

02:41That doesn't give me much confidence in how much of Steph Curry will actually see, will

02:45he be 75 or 80% of himself if he comes back?

02:48So, it does kind of feel like the Timberwolves are going to win the next three and do away

02:52with this series, but they've laid eggs, they've given duds before, so there's always a chance

02:56that that happens, and Jimmy Butler is the type of person that can take advantage of that.

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