The Golden State Warriors are now down 3-1 to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Semifinals after a 117-110 loss in Game 4. The Warriors are on the brink of elimination, but Draymond Green made it clear postgame that he does not want Stephen Curry to rush back from his hamstring injury for Game 5.
“No, we’re not going to Superman this thing,” Green said. “If he’s in a place where he can play, I’m sure he will. Him and Rick [Celebrini] and everybody will figure that out, but we don’t need Superman. Got to play the long game, so, if he can, we know he will. But there’s no pressure. We got to figure out how to win whether he plays or not.”
Curry suffered a hamstring strain in Game 1, and it was pretty clear he was not going to be able to play the next three games. NBA insider Shams Charania reported that Game 6 is the earliest that the two-time MVP would be back, and Green wants him to take as much time as he needs to ensure he’s fully healed.
“As far as Steph, he’s working his tail off every day,” Green stated. “He’s in here eight, nine hours a day, working, doing what he can to try to get back. His morale is great. Obviously, nobody is excited right now, but he’s working to get back. That’s all you can do at this point.”
If Curry doesn’t return for Game 5, you do worry that the Warriors’ season would end then and there. They somehow won Game 1 even after he exited, but haven’t been able to get the better of the Timberwolves since.
Game 2 was a blowout win for the Timberwolves, while Game 3 saw the Warriors lead late but fall apart down the stretch to lose 102-97. The Warriors also led at halftime in Game 4, but the Timberwolves dominated in the third quarter (39-17) to all but end the game as a contest.
Green had 14 points (6-14 FG), seven rebounds, and two assists in this latest loss. The only Warrior to score more than 15 points on the night was Jonathan Kuminga, who had 23 off the bench, and you’re not going to win too many when that happens.
Jimmy Butler only had 14 points (5-9 FG), six rebounds, three assists, and one block in Game 4. The Warriors need “Playoff Jimmy” when Curry isn’t around, and that version certainly didn’t show up against the Timberwolves on Monday. If that ends up being the case in Game 5 as well, then it would be curtains for the Warriors.
The Warriors are also going to have to be better defensively moving forward. The Timberwolves have now scored over 115 points in two of the last three games, and the Warriors are going to have a hard time getting to that number without Curry. Green felt they defended well in Game 4 at times but that’s not good enough.
“They shot the ball extremely well,” Green stated. “I thought we defended good in spurts, but they got going, and we never was able to put out the fire. Gotta give them a lot credit. Kinda felt like they were due for a great shooting night. It sucks that it had to be tonight, but it was. We just got to figure it out.”
Game 5 will be at the Target Center on Wednesday at 9:30 PM ET.
