Without Steph Curry, Warriors’ season ends as Timberwolves hold off rally in Game 5

MINNEAPOLIS With the season on the brink of collapse against the host Timberwolves Warriors coach Steve Kerr emptied the playbook and bench on Wednesday night at Target Center He used different players in the first minutes of Competition of their Western Conference semifinal mixing and matching combinations in search of success against a Timberwolves squad that featured two stars in their prime But the preponderance critical piece of the Golden State puzzle remained on the bench in street clothes with a left hamstring injury for the fourth straight match Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards looks to shoot against Golden State Warriors Pat Spencer right and Buddy Hield left during the second half of Match of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series Wednesday May in Minneapolis AP Photo Abbie Parr Without Steph Curry the Warriors did not have the firepower to force a Battle and extend their season dropping their fourth encounter in a row in a - setback According to Sportradar the Warriors hadn t lost four straight games in a single postseason since After making five consecutive Finals appearances from to Golden State has now failed to advance past the second round for the third straight year since winning the Finals in Minnesota will play in its second consecutive Western Conference Finals against either the Denver Nuggets or Oklahoma City Thunder Brandin Podziemski led the Warriors with points and Jonathan Kuminga threw in in what could be the restricted free agent s last championship in a Warriors uniform Jimmy Butler had had points in minutes Julius Randle scored for the Wolves and Anthony Edwards scored points with assists and seven rebounds The Warriors trailed by as multiple as points in the second half but the Golden State reserves made things compelling down the stretch Led by Gui Santos and Moses Moody the Warriors cut the deficit to nine with seven minutes left Edwards sat on the bench for much of the Warriors run But Golden State would get no closer with the Wolves keeping their opponents at bay and closing out the series in five games The Warriors stayed within reasonable striking distance of Minnesota until late in the second quarter After Draymond Green scored five points to cut the deficit to just six with left in the half the Wolves closed the quarter on a - run fueled by a Randle dunk and and- layup Minnesota led - at the half It was - with just minutes left to play The in-house DJ even did several light trolling blasting Bay Area anthem Blow the Whistle multiple times The Warriors got back into the battle but without Curry did not receive the final push they needed to complete the comeback The match did not start well for the visitors The Warriors allowed the Wolves to shoot from the field in the first quarter and lead - with Rudy Gobert scoring eight six of those points coming on lob dunks out of the pick and roll Kerr started the second quarter with Pat Spencer and Quinten Post being complemented by Buddy Hield trying to jumpstart the offense at the expense of getting stops The Warriors put up points but they also gave them up in bunches as Mike Conley turned back the clock and scored eight points in the frame