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Warriors' season was incomplete win with Steph watching from sidelines originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Five games didn’t determine the Western Conference semifinals between the Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves. One grab at a left hamstring around the nine-minute mark of the second quarter in the Warriors’ Game 1 win did. 

The Minnesota Timberwolves took care of business. Steve Kerr wouldn’t dare do it, and none of his Warriors players made excuses as to why they lost the series, even though they knew the answer. Steph Curry’s left hamstring strain ended the Warriors’ 2024-25 NBA season. The 121-110 Game 5 loss Wednesday night made it official.

Their last four games were all losses. All were without Curry. 

The season as a whole, before the injury bug took a bite too big for the Warriors to stomach, was a win. Just an incomplete one. 

“Quite a turnaround in our season from where we were a few months ago to giving ourselves a chance at having a swing of the plate for some real chances to go deep,” Kerr told reporters after the loss. “We were right there, and obviously it didn’t go our way.”

The Warriors’ 2024-25 season feels like it lasted 24 or 25 years. There were so many different storylines. The highs were high, the lows were low and there wasn’t much middle ground, except for their .500 record when they traded for Jimmy Butler. 

This was a team that started the season 12-3 and then didn’t just fall off a little, but took a nosedive. Curry called them “mid” after their final game in 2024 when they were blown out by the Cleveland Cavaliers at Chase Center. Their 16-16 record was mid to the definition, and the feeling around the team was much worse. 

Those feelings changed with the trade for Butler the night before the NBA deadline. Butler’s drama with the Miami Heat was over and the Warriors had their new co-star for Curry, sending Andrew Wiggins to South Beach as part of a multi-team trade. The Warriors were 25-24 at the time of the move, and back down to .500 a few hours later after losing to the 12-win Utah Jazz. 

Butler was introduced the next day in LA, and made his debut on Feb. 8 in Chicago. At that point, the Warriors were down to 25-26, good for 10th in the Western Conference. They went 23-8 the rest of the regular season and finished as a No. 7 seed, with real chances of being even higher. 

Between the regular season, NBA play-in tournament and playoffs, the Warriors from Butler’s debut to Wednesday’s second-round exit had a 29-15 record. 

Butler and Curry perfectly complemented each other, quickly forming a happy marriage. Butler and Draymond Green gave Golden State the best defense in the NBA. After a few months as a Warrior, Butler likes the outlook of a franchise he is signed to through the 2026-27 season. 

“Great,” Butler said. “A bunch of great guys that work incredibly hard, young talent that’s going to be incredibly successful in this league. It’s all about staying healthy, as it always is, and getting more and more comfortable playing with one another.”

Green declared the Warriors were going to win the championship during NBA All-Star Weekend. But he also told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Monte Poole and Kerith Burke on an episode of “Dubs Talk” near the end of the regular season that he likes the Warriors’ chances even more next season. The Butler trade wasn’t a three-month move. It was a multi-year move, especially regarding next season. 

“Our ceiling, it is what it is,” Green said. “Now we’re a second-round team, second-round exit. It’s over, that’s what it is.”

A combination of a healthy Curry, Butler and Green isn’t a second-round exit to the Warriors. That’s a trio they trust can beat anybody in a playoff series. The Warriors have to get better around them. They feel like they can, and they’ll at least eye everything to do so. 

Butler announced himself as Robin early into his Warriors tenure, making it clear he’s No. 2 to Golden State’s Batman (Curry). He showed that to be true in all the best ways alongside him, and in some tough ways without him in the playoffs. Green was voted third for NBA Defensive Player of the Year and showed why in big postseason moments, but also got himself in foul trouble, was bested by some younger big men at times and toed the line of technical and flagrant fouls. 

Both are 35 years old, both are basketball geniuses and both looked gassed against the Timberwolves down the stretch. 

As for the youth, there were bright spots and there were question marks. 

It would be surprising to see Jonathan Kuminga back in a Warriors jersey as a restricted free agent, but is his potential still too much for the front office to let go of? Moses Moody finally fit into a role that suits him best next to Butler in the frontcourt, and then he disappeared for long stretches of the playoffs. Brandin Podziemski is a long-term starting guard and a favorite of Kerr’s for all the little things he does, though he will have to continue improving as a scorer. 

Finding Quinten Post with the 52nd pick and having him turn into an impact stretch five as a rookie was a huge win. But he also pushed Trayce Jackson-Davis out of the rotation for a large chunk of his second pro season, just to see their roles be reversed in the conference semifinals.

There are so many reasons to call the Warriors’ season a success. Disappointment, yes. A win, also yes. 

Being one of the final eight teams in the NBA is something the Warriors should pat themselves on the back for. It just all feels so wrong when No. 30 is subjected to sweatpants, shaking his head on the bench.

“I know we had a shot,” Kerr said. “I know we could have gone the distance. Maybe we wouldn’t have, but it doesn’t matter. Everything in the playoffs is about who stays healthy and who gets hot. Are you playing well at the right time? Do you have multiple guys step up in key games, make shots? And do you have good health?

“You see it every year, in every series.”

Steph had his taste of meaningful basketball. In the end, he had to stare at a four-course meal from the outside, tapping on the glass and waiting for the next chapter to begin.

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Kerr, Butler know Warriors had shot to win title with healthy Steph originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Many Warriors fans will walk away from the 2024-25 NBA season with one simple question in mind.

What if Steph Curry didn’t injure his hamstring in the playoffs?

After Golden State’s season-ending 121-110 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night at Target Center, coach Steve Kerr was asked if that same question will be on his mind in the coming days, too.

“Actually, I don’t even have to think. I know we had a shot,” Kerr told reporters. “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? Do you have multiple guys step up in key games, make shots? And do you have good health? You see it every year, in every series. So there’s a little bit of luck involved, and we’ve been on both sides of that. It’s just part of it.”

Warriors star forward Jimmy Butler, who was forced to carry a much heavier load after Curry’s injury, came to a similar conclusion when asked if a healthy Golden State could contend for a title.

“I think we all know that. We all believe that,” Butler asserted. “The injuries are part of it. Nobody wants to be injured. It’s all about playing your basketball, the best basketball at the right time, and being healthy at the right time.

“Unfortunately, that wasn’t us, and we came up short.”

Now, the Warriors head into an important offseason with a chance to better position themselves to overcome any more potential injuries to their aging core next year and beyond.

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What Kerr told Podz after Warriors' season-ending loss to Timberwolves originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Coaches will always coach, particularly during trying moments.

Following the Warriors’ season-ending 121-110 Game 5 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday at Target Center, coach Steve Kerr shared some motivational words with guard Brandin Podziemski. 

Podziemski, who underwent a historic shooting slump through the first four games of the Western Conference semifinals, led Golden State’s scoring with 28 points on 11 of 19 shooting while adding six rebounds, four assists and two steals in Game 5.

Kerr was animated after a Podz turnover 😳 pic.twitter.com/vgnTJUegXc

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) May 15, 2025

Even though Podziemski’s revival was too little too late, Kerr acknowledged the 22-year-old culminated his postseason run by becoming a more seasoned player.

“This was a great experience for him,” Kerr told reporters after the loss. “There were times in this series where he was hesitant to shoot, even tonight he was 4-for-6. 

“I thought he could’ve gotten 10 or 11 threes off, and we needed those. And I told him that after the game, I said, ‘When we get back here next season, you are not going to turn down a single shot.’”

In hopes of keeping the season alive and giving star guard Steph Curry an opportunity to return to action, Kerr leaned heavily on Podziemski. 

Podz knocks down an early trey 👌pic.twitter.com/Vx5pugDwbE

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) May 15, 2025

Outside of wing Jimmy Butler’s team-high 42 minutes, Podziemski followed with 39 minutes, responding positively to a series that challenged him physically and mentally.

“And that’s part of the playoffs. I lived it as a player. It’s a mind game,” Kerr continued. “I call it something more profane, but the playoffs are a mind game. 

“It’s really easy to lose your confidence, teams throw different schemes at you. You had a bad game, and everyone is talking about your shooting percentage. You feel like you’re on an island. I’ve been there. It’s great for Brandin to go through that and then finish the series with a great game because he has to understand this is what it feels like.”  

As Kerr emphasized, the pressures of the NBA playoffs are incomparable to those of the regular season. 

Podziemski’s slump, for one, is proof of that.

“Nobody cares in January if you’re 4-for-20, but in the playoffs, everyone is writing about it, everyone is talking about it,” Kerr concluded. 

“You feel exposed, and that’s a big part of the playoff experience is understanding you got to keep firing, you have to stay aggressive [and] keep your confidence any way you can.” 

Kerr will be expecting more of that from Podziemski next season.

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Why there's no shame in Warriors being eliminated by Timberwolves originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

MINNEAPOLIS – From the moment Stephen Curry limped off the floor after playing 13 promising minutes in Game 1, the Warriors were crawling uphill in mud against the Minnesota Timberwolves. They had to know winning even one more game, perhaps creating a jolt of post-Steph confidence, would require an extraordinary performance.

No such thing occurred. The Warriors were not extraordinary enough. Not in Game 2 or Game 3 or Game 4, all losses with similar characteristics.

It was no different Wednesday night in Game 5, facing elimination in the Western Conference semifinals, which ended with the Warriors being thumped into the offseason by a 117-110 loss that was much more decisive than the score indicates.

The better team won Game 5 and the series, sweeping the last four games.

“I thought Game 3 was the key to the series,” coach Steve Kerr said. “We’re at 1-1, and we got a six-point lead in the mid-fourth [quarter], and they made huge plays down the stretch. That was the one we needed to get.

“And then I thought the last two games, they broke free offensively. And they shot 63 percent tonight. We couldn’t stop them.”

There is no shame or dishonor about Golden State’s effort before a rollicking sellout crowd at Target Center. The Warriors accomplished their No. 1 defensive priority, doing a marvelous job of preventing the redoubtable Anthony Edwards from shooting them off the floor. Doubling and trapping, they forced Edwards to move the ball.

Edwards quickly caught on and improvised, turning the game over to his teammates, who did a terrific job of shredding Golden State’s formerly respectable defense. The Warriors in the first half limited Edwards to six points but went into the locker room trailing 62-47.

“We threw a lot of stuff at him,” Kerr said of Edwards who finished with 22 points and a game-high 12 assists. “Box-and-one on one possession, a lot of zone-trapping in the back court. But they’re a hell of a team. They’ve got shooting everywhere. And that’s the name of the game in the modern NBA.”

The Timberwolves shot 62.8 percent from the field, including 41.9 percent from deep. Six different players scored in double figures, led by Julius Randle’s 29 points. Golden State’s top-five offense was no match.

“They moved the ball incredibly well, got into the paint,” Jimmy Butler III said. “I don’t feel like we took too much away from them. We talked about what we wanted to do. We did it in some spurts, but not the entire game – which we needed to do. They played well. You’ve got to give them that.”

The Warriors were appreciably outplayed by a team that is bigger, faster, deeper, more athletic and more skilled. Quite simply, superior. The Timberwolves, for much of this series, and surely in clinching Game 5, looked as if they were from a higher league.

“They got a chance. They’ve got a real shot,” Draymond Green said of the Wolves. “Anytime you got No. 2 [Randle] that can just go get it, you give yourself a chance at the go make it happen and get a ring. The way Julius has been playing … he’s been lights out.”

Game 5 was such disaster that the arena DJ turned to soundtrack that practically mocked the Warriors and the Bay Area, blasting such artists Too Short, Mac Dre and E-40 on what felt like a rotational loop.

Golden State’s veteran starters – Butler, Green and Buddy Hield – never mounted much of a threat in Game 5, combining for 35 points on 10-of-31 shooting from the field, including 1 of 13 from beyond the arc. Butler was minus-17 over 41 minutes, Green was minus-9 over 36 minutes and Hield finished minus-13 over 30 minutes.

What little offense Golden State stirred during the heart of the game came mostly from Brandin Podziemski (a playoff-career high 28 points in by far his best game of the series) and Jonathan Kuminga (26 points, his third consecutive productive outing).

This always was going to be a tough series, but there is no doubt Curry’s presence could have made it more competitive. Whether that would have been enough to tip the balance toward the Warriors is questionable. Once Curry was sidelined, the Warriors needed to win at least one of their home games to give themselves legitimate hope. Dropping both games and returning to Minnesota facing elimination put them in position to get smacked.

Two-plus months of quality basketball took the Warriors this far. About as far as they could go, considering their compromised roster. Even through the disappointment, they can hold their heads high.

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Kornet helps save Celtics' season with career night in Game 5 originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

BOSTON — The dogs were barking all night at TD Garden during the Boston Celtics’ season-saving Game 5 win over the New York Knicks.

While Derrick White (34 points) and Jaylen Brown (26 points) led the Jayson Tatum-less C’s in the scoring column, Luke Kornet was the difference-maker in Wednesday’s 127-102 rout. The big man recorded 10 points, nine rebounds, and a career-high seven blocks in 26 minutes off the bench.

“He was great. Just both ends of the floor,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “His presence was good… He made some big-time plays for us.”

The Celtics took control of Game 5 in the third quarter, outscoring the Knicks 32-17 after being tied at the half. It’s no coincidence that Boston’s dominance began when Kornet replaced Kristaps Porzingis.

Porzingis, who started in Tatum’s place despite an ongoing battle with a mysterious illness, struggled mightily in his 12 minutes. He logged only one point and was a -12, making him the only Celtic to finish in the negatives.

According to Mazzulla, Porzingis didn’t play in the second half because he had difficulty breathing. The setback is concerning for the already shorthanded Celtics, but it opened the door for Kornet to give Boston a much-needed spark with its season at stake.

“He was unbelievable,” White said of Kornet. “He came in and just seemed to always be in the right position. “Seven blocks is crazy. He was unbelievable tonight and stepped up when we needed him.

“Yeah, I was barking with him,” White added. “It’s just fun seeing him do that.”

It was more than just a career night for Kornet. The 29-year-old made NBA history, becoming the first player with at least 10 points, nine rebounds, seven blocks, and a perfect shooting performance (5-5 FG) in a playoff game. Anthony Davis (2023), Robert Williams (2022), and Draymond Green (2016) are the only other players to notch at least 10 points, nine boards, and seven blocks in a postseason game in the last 10 years.

“Luke was huge tonight, defensively and offensively,” Brown said. “He was stellar, and that’s the type of performance we need in the playoffs.”

After the win, Kornet credited Brown and veteran big man Al Horford with helping the team reset after Tatum’s Achilles tear.

“Understanding the situation and understanding that we have a game to play, and to go out and represent ourselves well and play hard,” he said. “I feel like those two led the way in that.”

Winning the final two games of this Eastern Conference semifinals series without Tatum is a tall task, never mind making it through another two rounds. But if Kornet continues to provide a significant boost, and both White and Brown step up in starring roles, the reigning champions can’t be counted out.

With Porzingis’ status uncertain, Kornet will likely be asked to give the C’s more big minutes in Friday’s do-or-die Game 6 at Madison Square Garden. Coverage for the matchup begins at 7 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Boston with Celtics Pregame Live.

Mazzulla on Porzingis' early exit from Game 5: ‘He couldn't breathe' originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

BOSTON — Kristaps Porzingis’ struggles to stay on the court continued Wednesday night, and it sounds like his health issues were more pronounced this time around.

The Celtics big man logged just 12 minutes in Game 5 of Boston’s second-round playoff series with the New York Knicks at TD Garden and didn’t play at all in the second half. He finished with just one point on 0 for 3 shooting with one rebound and one block.

Head coach Joe Mazzulla shared a concerning update on Porzingis when asked about the big man’s limited minutes.

“I mean, he couldn’t breathe,” Mazzulla said after Boston’s series-extending, 127-102 win. “So, he was available if absolutely necessary.”

Porzingis started the game and played 7:38 minutes in the first quarter. He was used sparingly in the second quarter, however, and came to a mutual agreement with Mazzulla at halftime.

“That was just a decision between me and him,” Mazzulla said of Porzingis’ absence in the second half. “He was having difficulties breathing. But he wanted to be out there, and if we absolutely needed him, we would have been able to go to him and rely on him.”

Porzingis’ health difficulties stem from a viral respiratory illness that forced him to miss eight consecutive games in late February and early March. According to the C’s big man, he’s still feeling the effects of that illness in the form of depleted energy and breathing issues.

“I’ve had ups and downs up until this point, and just now had a big crash,” Porzingis said after Game 2. “My energy, my everything hasn’t been good.”

Porzingis played just 13 minutes in Game 1, 14 minutes in Game 2 and 19 minutes in Game 3 before delivering his “best” performance of the series in Game 4: a seven-point, four-rebound effort in 24 minutes. It’s clear the 29-year-old is very far from full strength, however.

Fortunately for the Celtics, Kornet stepped up in a huge way in Game 5, racking up 10 points, nine rebounds and a career-high seven blocks in 25 minutes of action. Kornet’s efforts were a big reason why Boston out-rebounded the Knicks 44-40 on Wednesday night after getting killed on the glass in Game 4.

With a must-win Game 6 set for Friday night in New York, don’t be surprised if we see more of Kornet going forward, with Porzingis only being deployed on an “as needed” basis.

Tip-off for Game 6 is set for 8 p.m. ET on Friday, with NBC Sports Boston’s coverage beginning at 7 p.m. ET with Celtics Pregame Live.