Anthony Edwards meets his Olympic coach. Jimmy Butler returns to Minnesota. The Wolves try to get to the Western Conference Finals for a second straight year. Hall of Famer Steph Curry tries to conjure more postseason magic. Can Rudy and Draymond get along? Or at least try not to choke each other?
The Timberwolves enter round two of the NBA playoffs starting Tuesday night against the Golden State Warriors. It's the first time in franchise history they've made it through the first round in consecutive seasons after they dispatched the LA Lakers.
Now they take on the Warriors, a team with some serious championship pedigree - and a rejuvenated Jimmy Butler in tow. That, says Wolves coach Chris Finch, will make them a formidable opponent. The difference is the Wolves were rested after beating LA in five, while the Houston Rockets battled Golden State through seven hard-fought games.
"Obviously a tough matchup, it's a championship pedigree team," Finch explains. "They're similar to us. They played their best best basketball down the stretch and into the playoffs, they're coming off of a really, really tough series, no doubt about it. But they showed what they're made of in that series. They got us three times out of four this year, but we haven't played them with the new look roster. So we got a lot, a lot of things to contemplate coming in this series. Is gonna be a definitely a tough one for us."
For veteran point guard Mike Conley Jr. it's another chance to compete for a championship at the tail end of his career. He thinks the Wolves defense is going to be a key in the series.
"Yeah, it takes a lot of discipline, I think we have the guys who athletically can match the speed they play, the physicality they play with," Conley says. "But can we sustain it for 24 seconds on the shot clock? Can we sustain, not ball-watching and staying attached to the shooters? And understanding personnel, who's in and who's out of the game, because there'll be different coverages for different guys. It's gonna take a lot of mental preparation for that and being able to, like I said, be consistent with it throughout the games."
It's also another chance for Wolves superstar Anthony Edwards to take another step towards the elite-level players in the NBA. Already in the last two season, Edwards and the Wolves have taken out some major hall of fame talent: Kevin Durant and Nikola Jokić in last year's playoffs, and already Luka Dončić and LeBron James this postseason.
Now comes the NBA's greatest-ever shooter, Steph Curry, and Butler who spent barely more than one drama-filled season in Minnesota. None of the current Wolves played with the Wolves when Butler played here in 2017-18 and for 10 games in 2018-19 before being traded.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr knows exactly what Edwards has become capable of after coaching him with Team USA at the Paris Olympics. What does Kerr think of ANT?
"The main insight I have is that he's really damn good," Kerr said. "So, I don't know how that helps us prepare, but, yeah, ANT is an amazing player and I love his energy. I love his infectious enthusiasm for the game. It was amazing to coach, and there's a reason the Wolves are where they are now."
Kerr was also complimentary of the rest of the roster and especially their head coach.
"They've done a great job organizationally and put together a really good roster," Kerr explains. Chris has done a fantastic job as coach, but they are where they are because ANT is a superstar and you have to have a guy like that to build a great team. He's the reason they are where they are."
Finch knows the Warriors are going to challenge Minnesota in ways the Lakers didn't, and says they know they'll have to play solidly to win the series.
"I think they hurt us and they certainly hurt us in transition," Finch says about the regular season matchups between the teams. "That's gonna be a big point of emphasis I'm sure. For them as it is for us. Stylistically they're still pretty similar, obviously centers around Steph and Draymond and that combination has been a handful for many years. But now they add Jimmy, who gives them just an added dimension. Not only feeds into their style of play but also gives them things that they didn't have before like foul-drawing, iso-baskets on demand, another closer. So yeah, I do think there are things you can take from the games in the regular season though."
PREVIEW: No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves (49-33, 4-1) vs. No. 7 Golden State Warriors (48-34, 4-3)
Season series: Warriors, 3-1.
Schedule: Game 1 at Minnesota, Tuesday; Game 2 at Minnesota, Thursday; Game 3 at Golden State, Saturday; Game 4 at Golden State, May 12; Game 5 at Minnesota, May 14 (if necessary); Game 6 at Golden State, May 18 (if necessary); Game 7 at Minnesota, May 20 (if necessary).
How they got here: Both were lower-seeded in their Round 1 matchups, and both won closeout games on the road to get to Round 2. The Timberwolves topped LeBron James, Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers in five games; the Warriors won a Game 7 at Houston to advance after losing closeout chances in Games 5 and 6 of that matchup.
Story line: There’s a few of them, notably whether the Timberwolves can get to the Western Conference Finals for the second consecutive year — and if they do, will it be one of those passing-of-the-torch moments on that side of the league? Wolves star Anthony Edwards might say he doesn’t want to be the face of the league; if he leads Minnesota to a win in this series, he might not have a choice in the matter. The Warriors have to rest and regroup quickly after a total grinder of a series versus Houston.
Key matchup: Golden State’s Draymond Green vs. Minnesota’s Julius Randle. Green is still an elite, all-world defender (not to mention someone with history against Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert) and will have to lead the Warriors’ quest to not let the Wolves dominate the paint. Green was sensational in Game 7 against Houston; he needs that to carry over to this one.
X-factors: Golden State’s Jimmy Butler vs. Minnesota. All of Minnesota. Wolves fans don’t remember him fondly; Butler loves being in those situations. He wasn’t with the Warriors for any of the four games against Minnesota in a super-tight regular-season series (Golden State won 3-1, but points, rebounds, shooting, assists and turnovers were all basically even.)