The Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors continue their second-round NBA playoff series on Thursday night in Game 2. The pressure is on the Wolves to win at home before the series shifts to San Francisco. Plus, the Warriors will be shorthanded without Stephen Curry, who is expected to miss multiple games after suffering a Grade 1 hamstring strain in the series opener.
Anthony Edwards scored just one point in the first half on Tuesday, but finished with a team-high 23 points. After averaging 26.8 points per game in Minnesota’s series win over the Los Angeles Lakers, the Wolves will need him to get going earlier if they want to split the first two games. With Curry out, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green combined for 38 points in Game 1. But the true Warriors hero was Buddy Hield, who got hot from beyond the perimeter and finished with a team-high 24 points. Can he pick up the scoring slack for Curry moving forward?
The Wolves are favored to win the series (-180), and four of our six experts picked Minnesota to advance to the Western Conference finals for the second year in a row.
Timberwolves vs. Warriors Game 2 info
Time: 8:30 p.m. ET | Date: Thursday, May 8
Location: Target Center — Minneapolis
TV channel: TNT | Live stream: Max
Odds (via DraftKings): Timberwolves -10.5, O/U 201
Timberwolves vs. Warriors Game 2 best bet
Buddy Hield had a stretch of five consecutive games with at least 16 points early in the season, starting in late October and going into early November. He hasn’t had three such games in a row since. Buddy Hield is fairly inconsistent. It’s a reality of relying as heavily on jumpers as he does, and the Timberwolves now have had time to game-plan for him specifically with Stephen Curry now known to be out. He’s been remarkable in Golden State’s last two games, but expect the Timberwolves to come prepared to slow him down on Thursday. The Pick: Hield Under 15.5 Points
