MINNEAPOLIS — As the Target Center roared for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the last minute of Game 5 on Wednesday night, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr took Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green out for the final time this season.
Kerr hugged both of his stars and shared some words with each seconds before Golden State’s season came to an end with a 121-110 loss in the Western Conference semifinals.
Without the injured Stephen Curry, the Warriors were no match for the Wolves, losing four straight games after taking Game 1.
While the Warriors did not want to make any excuses and repeatedly praised Minnesota, Kerr was asked whether he will look back on this postseason and wonder about what the Warriors could have done had Curry not suffered a Grade 1 left hamstring strain in Game 1.
“I don’t even have to think what [if],” Kerr said. “I know we had a shot. I know we could have gone the distance.
“Maybe we wouldn’t have, but it doesn’t matter. Again, everything in the playoffs is about who stays healthy and who gets hot. Are you playing well at the right time?”
The Warriors were playing some of their best basketball before Curry was injured. They had just survived a physical first-round matchup, upsetting the second-seeded Rockets by winning Game 7 in Houston. Their confidence was high.
And when Curry went down and left the Wolves series for good with 8:19 to go in the second quarter of Game 1, the Warriors were up 10 and would go on to lead by 23 in the third quarter before winning that opening game. Curry was getting into a groove, having scored 13 points in 12 minutes.
Curry, 37, called his injury a “gut punch” considering how well the Warriors were playing and the potential they had for a deep run while also not knowing how many more of these opportunities he will have.
Not long after the Warriors traded for Butler, Green had said that Golden State would win the title.
“I think I still have that belief wholeheartedly,” Green said Wednesday night. “That has not changed one bit. And you retool, you do whatever it is that you got to do to take that next step and give yourself a better chance.”
The Warriors were 25-26 before Butler made his Warriors debut at the Chicago Bulls on Feb. 8. Golden State then went 23-8 and had the third-best record since that date. It ranked first in defensive efficiency, third in points per game allowed and first in assists per game during that span.
After Game 5, Kerr again credited Butler with changing the Warriors’ season. Butler fought an illness and scored a combined total of 31 points in Games 4 and 5 after finishing with 33 points in Game 3. The star forward would not make any excuses about the illness or if he was still feeling the effects of taking a nasty fall in the first round and suffering a deep contusion of his tailbone.
But Kerr said Butler was dealing with the pain of the fall in addition to Minnesota’s stifling defense.
“I think he was definitely compromised through all series,” Kerr said. “I think the injury in Houston definitely impacted him. He’s been playing through pain and I think the biggest thing in this series is that without the spacing that Steph gives us, Minnesota did a great job of just playing us one-on-one. They guarded us on the perimeter. They were trying to take away our 3s, and that forced Jimmy to play a lot of one-on-one against a long, athletic team.
“They just made the decision not to leave our perimeter guys, even our non-shooters on the perimeter, they just stayed with them everywhere and made Jimmy play one-on-one. And because they have a lot of length in athleticism, it wasn’t easy for him to get anything at the rim. … Once Steph went out, it changed everything for our whole team, but especially for Jimmy.”
Butler said he can see the potential of this team as a contender when healthy.
“For sure,” Butler said. “I think we all know that, we all believe that.”
Butler said he is looking forward to seeing what he can do with this team with a full season and camp after helping the Warriors make a furious run from midseason on.
Kerr and Green agreed and both said they trust general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. to make the right moves to improve the roster if possible.
“I love our guys,” Kerr said. “This was a hell of a run for us considering where we were at the trade deadline. Jimmy changed our season, flipped everything for us, gave us a chance. We became one of the best teams in the league. And obviously you get to the final eight in the NBA, you’re one of the best teams.
“We had a shot, but things didn’t go our way. Minnesota deserves the credit.”
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