Edwards, Timberwolves overcome Warriors in Game 3 to take 2-1 series lead

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Anthony Edwards poured successful a game-high 36 points, Julius Randle had 24 arsenic portion of a triple-double, and the Minnesota Timberwolves wrested backmost home-court vantage successful their second-round playoff bid against the Golden State Warriors with a 102-97 triumph successful San Francisco, California.

Game 4 successful the Western Conference best-of-seven bid is scheduled for Monday nighttime successful San Francisco, with the sixth-seeded Timberwolves starring 2-1.

Jimmy Butler III had a team-high 33 points connected Saturday for seventh-seeded Golden State, which played without prima defender Stephen Curry, retired with a strained near hamstring.

The tightly contested crippled saw the Warriors clinging wrong 84-82 earlier 2 game-disqualifying fouls connected antiaircraft ace Draymond Green wrong 18 seconds wrong the last 5 minutes.

The Timberwolves took power from there, getting a triple from Jaden McDaniels and a three-point play from Rudy Gobert, the second creating a six-point cushion for the visitors with 2:05 to play.

“We’re making immoderate shots, for sure,” Timberwolves manager Chris Finch said. “We’re getting stops. We were getting stops passim the regular season. We’re conscionable winning the possession conflict successful clutch clip now. We’re conscionable not — we’re not giving the shot backmost connected inexpensive turnovers. We’re not giving up arsenic galore oregon immoderate second-chance opportunities.”

A 3-pointer by Edwards, his 5th of the game, each but clinched Minnesota’s 2nd consecutive triumph with 1:19 to go.

Edwards’s 36 points were his second-most this postseason, topped lone by a 43-point detonation successful Game 4 against the Los Angeles Lakers successful the archetypal round. He deed 13 of his 28 shots connected Saturday.

“The squad defence was truly good,” Warriors manager Steve Kerr said. “Held them to 102. That’s a beauteous bully number. But Randle and Edwards truly some got going successful the 2nd half, and that was the key. We couldn’t rather incorporate them, particularly successful the fourth, and that was the difference.”

Randle complemented his 24 points with 10 rebounds, a game-high 12 assists and 3 steals for the Timberwolves, who outshot the hosts 43.9 percent to 43.2 percent successful a antiaircraft struggle.

“He’s playing with truthful overmuch unit and determination,” Finch said of Randle. “He’s going retired determination aboriginal and aggressive, and he’s exerting a tonne of vigor connected the antiaircraft extremity with his assemblage and his rebounding. He’s playing a implicit crippled for us, nary doubt.”

McDaniels added 15 points and Gobert had a game-high 13 rebounds for Minnesota, which went 2-1 connected the roadworthy successful its 4-1 first-round bid triumph against the Lakers.

Butler’s 33 points connected 12-for-26 shooting were his astir since helium had 35 for the Miami Heat successful Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals astatine Boston successful 2023. He besides recovered clip for 7 rebounds and a team-high 7 assists.

“Man, Jimmy was incredible,” Kerr said. “He truly controlled the crippled for america and enactment america successful a presumption to win, and we conscionable couldn’t adjacent it out. But helium was superb each night.”

Jonathan Kuminga, pressed into accrued playing clip arsenic the Warriors looked to capable the void of Curry’s regular scoring, backed Butler with a postseason career-high 30 points. He had totalled conscionable 43 successful Golden State’s archetypal 9 playoff games.

“JK [Jonathan Kuminga] played 1 of the champion games of his life,” Kerr said. “It was fantastic to see. You tin spot however indispensable helium is successful this matchup, particularly without Steph [Curry].”

Buddy Hield changeable 4-for-8 connected 3-pointers to relationship for a bulk of his 14 points for the Warriors, portion Brandin Podziemski collected a team-high 8 rebounds connected a nighttime erstwhile helium changeable 1-for-10.

Celtics hide Knicks successful Game 3

In an earlier playoff crippled connected Saturday, Jayson Tatum finished with 22 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists, and the Boston Celtics pulled distant for a 115-93 triumph implicit the big New York Knicks successful Game 3 of their second-round Eastern Conference series.

Payton Pritchard scored a team-high 23 points disconnected the seat for Boston, which chopped the Knicks’ pb to 2-1 successful the best-of-seven series. Jaylen Brown added 19 points, and Derrick White had 17.

Jalen Brunson scored 27 points connected 9-for-21 shooting to pb the Knicks. Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 21 points and 15 rebounds.

After struggling to people successful the archetypal 2 games of the series, the Celtics recovered their bushed connected offence. Boston changeable 48.2 percent (40 of 83) wide and 50 percent (20 of 40) from 3-point range, and New York changeable 40 percent (32 of 80) from the tract and 20 percent (5 of 25) from beyond the arc.

“They got immoderate cleanable looks early, and they spot it spell in; that gives them confidence. Then it’s hard to unopen them off,” said Knicks manager Tom Thibodeau. “We person to person greater awareness. We can’t let missed shots to instrumentality distant from [our] antiaircraft tenacity. We’ve got to bounce back.”

Tatum made a handbasket to enactment Boston connected apical 112-89 with 2:40 remaining. He assisted connected a 3-pointer by Al Horford connected the adjacent possession, and Celtics manager Joe Mazzulla rested his starters for the remainder of the crippled with the people retired of reach.

“This is the amusive part. You don’t get into the travel for it to beryllium easy,” said Mazzulla. “It’s been dark, but successful a bully way. You’ve conscionable got to pat into your darkness, and that’s it.”

Game 4 successful the best-of-seven bid volition beryllium played successful New York connected Monday.