The Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night routed the Golden State Warriors to advance to the NBA Western Conference Finals as the Boston Celtics kept their playoff campaign alive with a blowout victory over the New York Knicks.
The Timberwolves, who had dominated the Warriors to open up a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, once again proved too strong for the seven-time NBA champions as they powered to a 121-110 win in Minneapolis.
The victory completed a 4-1 series triumph for the Timberwolves, who return to the Western Conference Finals for a second straight season.
Photo: AFP
The Warriors, whose playoff campaign was derailed by an injury to Stephen Curry in Game 1 against Minnesota, once again struggled to generate any offensive fluency in the absence of their superstar talisman.
Instead it was left to the Timberwolves to pull clear after taking the lead early in the first quarter, their greater size and shooting accuracy leaving them in total control for long periods.
The Timberwolves led by 25 points late in the third quarter, and although a Warriors rally managed to cut the lead to nine points with seven minutes left, Minnesota regrouped down the stretch to close out a convincing win.
Julius Randle led the Timberwolves scorers with 29 points, while Anthony Edwards finished with 22 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds.
“We’ve had a season full of adversity, but as coach said at the end of the regular season — we didn’t do anything as far as trades or fire coaches,” Randle said.
“We just stuck together and we got through it together. I’m super proud of our team — everybody has stepped up in some way this year. Now we got to keep it going,” he added.
Reigning NBA champions Boston battled back from Jayson Tatum’s shattering injury blow to defeat the Knicks 127-102 and breathe new life into their faltering playoff campaign.
The Celtics, trailing 3-1 and facing elimination in the best-of-seven series after Monday’s defeat that saw Tatum sustain a ruptured Achilles tendon, roared back at their TD Garden.
Derrick White and Jaylen Brown led Boston’s fightback, combining for 60 points to extend the Eastern Conference semi-final series to a Game 6 at Madison Square Garden in New York tonight.
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