Online Reporter
Buddy Hield scored 24 points as the Golden State Warriors held on for a 99-88 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinals series on Tuesday night in Minneapolis, despite losing star Stephen Curry to injury.
Jimmy Butler III notched a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds for the seventh-seeded Warriors, who won for the second time in three nights after eliminating the Houston Rockets in a seven-game, first-round series. Draymond Green finished with 18 points and eight rebounds.
“Jimmy is as good as any star in the league at reading the game and controlling the tempo,” said Warriors coach Steve Kerr.
Anthony Edwards missed his first 10 shots from the field but finished with 23 points and 14 rebounds for Minnesota, which appeared rusty after a five-day break between games. Naz Reid scored 19 points off the bench and Julius Randle finished with 18 points.
“It didn’t look like us at all,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “It didn’t feel like us at all.”
Curry left in the second quarter because of a left hamstring strain and did not return. Curry scored 13 points in 13 minutes on 5-for-9 shooting overall and 3-for-6 shooting from 3-point range before his injury.
Curry appeared to sustain the injury after driving for a layup. He favored his left leg after the shot and lifted his arm to signal to the bench that something felt wrong.
Kerr told reporters after the game that Curry would undergo an MRI on his left hamstring on Wednesday. He described Curry’s status as day-to-day.
“We’re definitely game-planning for him to not be available on Thursday,” Kerr said. “We don’t know yet, but with the hamstring, it’s hard to imagine that he would play Thursday.”
Meanwhile, Tyrese Haliburton grabbed his own missed free throw and buried a 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds remaining, giving the visiting Indiana Pacers a 120-119 win over the short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, taking a commanding lead in the series Tuesday night.
The Pacers scored the final eight points after Donovan Mitchell made two free throws to push Cleveland’s lead to 119-112 with 57 seconds left. Baskets by Aaron Nesmith and Pascal Siakam made it a one-possession game, and Andrew Nembhard stole the subsequent inbounds pass from Max Strus.
Haliburton drew a foul with 12.4 ticks remaining, making his first free throw to make it 119-117, then grabbed his miss on the second. He dribbled beyond the arc before making the 3-pointer to complete Indiana’s comeback from 20 points down.
“Obviously, we got lucky,” said Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle. “Ty hit another amazing shot to win the game. You don’t see this very often, let alone twice in one week. Tyrese, he came through again. We’re very fortunate.”
“I’m at peace with my game,” said Haliburton. “I understand that I’m trusted in these moments. … It’s a special feeling. I get paid a lot of money to play a kids game and I’m having a lot of fun doing it.”—Reuters
