SAN FRANCISCO — Playoff Jimmy showed up, as did the Warriors’ best-in-class defense, but the night ended with Draymond Green on the bench, a few seats down from Stephen Curry.
And that was the difference Saturday night. It just might be in the series, too.
“I feel like it’s a game we should have won tonight, but we didn’t win it,” Buddy Hield said after a 102-97 loss to the Timberwolves sent the Curry-less Warriors down 2-1 in their Western Conference semifinal series against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
To pull out Game 3 with Curry clad in a gray Under Armour sweatsuit and a white ballcap, coach Steve Kerr said the Warriors would “have to win … with our defense.” Things were mostly going according to the plan — up until about midway through the third quarter.
That’s when Green picked up his fourth foul. Golden State’s defensive leader was forced to take a seat at the 6:46 mark, and the Warriors had to play the final five minutes of the game without him after picking up his fifth and sixth fouls in quick succession.
“The team defense was really good. Held them to 102. That’s a pretty good number,” Kerr said. “But (Julius) Randle and (Anthony) Edwards really both got going in the second half and that was the key.
“We couldn’t quite contain them, especially in the fourth, and that was the difference.”
With Green on the court for only 11 of the possible 24 minutes after halftime, the Timberwolves’ scoring duo combined for 39 of their 60 total points in the second half. Minnesota made 21 of its 38 attempts from the field (55.3%) after being held to 34.1% shooting in the first half.
The Warriors haven’t lost a game this postseason when holding an opponent to 40% or below from the field and were a combined 19-1 all year when limiting them to fewer than 100 points.
The Timberwolves entered the final period shooting at a 40.6% clip and needing 31 points to reach triple digits. They put up 33 and finished the game a comfortable 43.9% from the field.
Eighteen of the Timberwolves’ fourth-quarter points came in the final 4:38 after Green fouled out of the game.
“Obviously he’s one of the top defenders in the world. For sure the best defender on this squad,” Jimmy Butler III said. “You know, when he’s out, it is just different. You don’t got nobody back there that’s quarterbacking the way that he does it; that can switch everything, and that get every loose ball and that can rebound. Even whenever he comes out, we’ve still got to be better.”
Without Curry, Butler led the way offensively with 33 points, and Jonathan Kuminga stepped up as a second option with 30 of his own. Both offenses sputtered for most of the first half, but Golden State seized a 42-40 halftime lead with a 13-1 run entering intermission.
The Warriors held Minnesota without a field goal for the final 6:30 of the half and looked to be finding their formula to winning without Curry. An Edwards free throw was the only interruption to 12 straight empty offensive possessions that featured three turnovers and nine missed shots.
Then, a little over five minutes into the third, came the first of three lengthy reviews. Each one went against Golden State, and two resulted in fouls against Green.
“I feel like everything didn’t go our way tonight that we thought would go our way,” said Hield, who was left dumbfounded when video review upheld Green’s fourth personal, which officials called when he slid in front of Randle and took a forearm to the chest.
“I just don’t understand the rules,” he said. “I feel like they were debating it too long on the challenge and reviewing it and going over time and trying to figure out what’s the right call.”
Kerr’s challenge was unsuccessful. Green picked up his fifth when Minnesota coach Chris Finch successfully overturned a call that would have resulted in free throws for Jonathan Kuminga after replay showed Green grabbing Randle’s jersey.
One possession later, he was out of the game after making an ill-advised attempt to contest a Jaden McDaniels drive.
Kerr said the Warriors “felt pretty strongly” about the block/charge call that became Green’s fourth foul, “but obviously we didn’t get the call and that’s part of the game. But Randle was great, and foul trouble, and the sixth one was a tough one. That didn’t feel great looking at the replay but it is what it is and they outplayed us in the fourth and they deserved to win.”
Looking ahead to Game 4 on Monday, Kerr said he saw glimpses of a way to win without Curry, whose left hamstring will keep him sidelined through at least Game 5. They were up by five with eight minutes to play, but, he said, “We just couldn’t finish.”
Their defense largely lived up to the billing as the best in the NBA since Butler’s arrival, forcing 21 turnovers — six more than they committed. But the Timberwolves converted the Warriors’ 15 giveaways into 16 points, whereas Golden State could only capitalize for 13 on its takeaways.
“I think we were better than our last game,” Butler said. “We still didn’t get many loose balls and 50/50 balls as we talked about getting. But overall, we did get better. It just wasn’t good enough. … Scoring is never the problem. I think 97 can win in the playoffs. It’s us on the other end. We’ve got to stop them from scoring.”