Preview: Warriors look to go up 2-0 against Timberwolves without Curry

Playoff Jimmy, ACTIVATE!

Let’s talk about hunger and opportunity, Dub Nation. The Golden State Warriors roll into tonight’s Game 2 with pure greed in their eyes. Up 1-0 with home court advantage snatched, they’re now attempting to pull off what the New York Knicks have done to the Boston Celtics, storming into a higher seed’s building and eating the food off their plate to take a 2-0 lead back home .

Only problem? They’ll be doing it without their main utensil.

Steph Curry’s Grade 1 hamstring strain has him sidelined for at least a week, transforming what should be a celebratory Game 2 into an exercise in culinary ingenuity. How do you eat a Minnesota steak without your favorite fork? YOU USE YA HANDS!!!! Ya scratch and you claw and you rip until your fingers are greasy, sweaty messes.

All hands on deck tonight, baby.

Warriors at Timberwolves, Game 2

When: Thursday, May 8th, 2025 | 5:30 PM PT

Watch: TNT

Listen: 95.7 The Game

The absence of Curry – who had 13 points in just 13 minutes before exiting Game 1 – creates the kind of void that would typically have Minnesota licking their chops. But these aren’t your standard-issue Warriors.

This version has Jimmy “General Soreness” Butler, the man who once chose third-stringers to publicly humiliate the Timberwolves’ starters in perhaps the most spectacular villain origin story since Darth Vader got his helmet fitted.

Butler’s return to Minnesota was everything you’d expect: they booed him every time he touched the ball. His response? A 20-point, 11-rebound, 8-assist performance that felt less like basketball and more like someone methodically unpacking emotional baggage in front of 18,000 therapists who didn’t ask for the session.

“[The booing] doesn’t bother me,” Butler said post-Game 1 with the serenity of someone who just repossessed your car. “But people do have to watch their mouth.”

And then there’s Buddy Hield, emerging as the last Splash Brother standing in a franchise defined by historic shooting. With Klay Thompson wearing Mavs colors and Curry in street clothes, Hield is the unexpected heir to Golden State’s perimeter throne. His 24-point eruption in Game 1 wasn’t just timely – it was ancestral, carrying the genetic code of Warriors shooters past. Buddy is dropping buckets at a 56/74/100% clip over the last two playoff games with 14 three-pointers made, earning the right to choose to officially become Splash Nephew. No matter what shorts he has on!

Combined with Draymond Green’s 18-point outburst the Warriors’ supporting cast morphed from complementary pieces into primary options faster than a Minnesota winter turns your car into an oversized ice cube.

Meanwhile, the Timberwolves’ performance bordered on hypothermic. Their 3-point shooting was so cold (5-for-29, 17.2%) it could preserve meat. But the real story was Anthony Edwards – Minnesota’s high-flying engine built for postseason heroics – scoring just one singular point in the first half on 0-for-8 shooting. By game’s end, his 23 points on 9-for-23 shooting (including missing his first 10 shots) felt less like a recovery and more like applying makeup to a broken nose.

Chris Finch didn’t mince words afterward, publicly challenging his 23-year-old star: “You’re the leader of the team. You’ve got to come out and set the tone. If your shot is not going, you still have to carry the energy.”

Edwards’s response? “People are going to try to blame whatever, blame whoever; they can blame me. [But] we just didn’t play good enough.”

The question hanging over Game 2 isn’t whether Edwards will respond – generational talents with pride like his always do – but whether his response will matter against a Warriors team that has seemingly found its championship defensive identity at precisely the right moment.

Golden State held Minnesota to just 88 points in Game 1 despite the Wolves typically treating the scoreboard like a pinball machine. The Warriors’ rotations were solid , forcing 18 turnovers and limiting Minnesota to shooting percentages that should be very alarming to any children with Rudy Gobert posters on their wall (39.5% shooting from the field for the Wolves).

With Curry sidelined, Steve Kerr will likely lean even harder on his newfound defensive dominance while asking for increased offensive production from Brandin Podziemski, and a potentially expanded role for Jonathan Kuminga – the athletic youngster Minnesota inadvertently gifted Golden State alongside Andrew Wiggins in perhaps the most one-sided trade since Manhattan went for $24 worth of beads.

The path to a 2-0 lead isn’t just about survival without Curry; it’s about Golden State getting greedy when the situation demands restraint. It’s about Jimmy Butler revisiting his personal house of horrors and adding another wing to the nightmare. It’s about Anthony Edwards finding his supernova setting against a defense designed to contain his explosion.

Game 2 isn’t just another playoff contest folks, it’s a momentum grab that could define this entire series. Because winning without your best player doesn’t just hurt the opponent’s chances; it demolishes their spirit.