Online Reporter
Julius Randle scored 29 points on 13-for-18 shooting, and the Minnesota Timberwolves held on for a 121-110 win over the Golden State Warriors to clinch their Western Conference semifinal series on Wednesday night in Minneapolis.
Anthony Edwards finished with 22 points and 12 assists for Minnesota, which won the best-of-seven series in five games. The Timberwolves advanced to the conference finals, where they will await the winner of the semifinal series between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Denver Nuggets.
“It’s great,” Randle said of reaching the conference finals. “We’ve had a season full of adversity. Coach (Chris Finch) said at the end of the regular season that we didn’t do anything as far as trades or firing coaches. We just stuck together, and we got through it together.
“I’m super proud of our team, everybody that stepped up in some type of way this year. We got win No. 8 (in the playoffs). We’ve got to keep going.”
Brandin Podziemski scored 28 points on 11-for-19 shooting to lead Golden State. Jonathan Kuminga added 26 points off the bench, and Jimmy Butler III chipped in 17 points and six assists.
“It was a fight,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “I’m really proud of our guys. They hung in there and they battled the whole way through.
“(It was) quite a turnaround in our season from where we were a few months ago to giving ourselves a chance and having a swing at the plate for some real chances to go deep. We were right there. Obviously it didn’t go our way. The Wolves were great, they deserved it. But I’m very proud of our team.”
The Warriors dropped their fourth straight game without Stephen Curry, who watched in street clothes from the bench. Curry injured his left hamstring in the series opener after leading Golden State to a first-round playoff series win over the Houston Rockets.
Kerr said of the challenge of playing without Curry, “Injuries are part of the playoffs. I learned a long time ago that the playoffs are really about health and then just guys stepping up and making some big shots, big plays in key games. That’s what decides every series.
…
Derrick White scored a game-high 34 points and the Boston Celtics extended their season by beating the visiting New York Knicks 127-102 on Wednesday in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Knicks lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 heading into tomorrow’s Game 6 in New York.
The Celtics received 26 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds from Jaylen Brown. Luke Kornet added 10 points, nine rebounds and seven blocked shots and Payton Pritchard came off the bench to make five 3-pointers and score 17 points.
“We made winning plays on both ends of the floor,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “They made enough plays to win. Gave us another chance to play.” − Reuters
