The Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors, both lower seeds that advanced past the first round, open their Western Conference semifinals series Tuesday night. Tip-off for Game 1 is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. ET at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
The Timberwolves, the sixth seed, defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in their first-round series. The seventh-seeded Warriors upset the Houston Rockets in seven games to reach the semifinals. Game 1 coverage is underway.
Minnesota is playing its first game in six days after closing out its series last week. Golden State played Sunday and had one day off before the series opener.
The Golden State Warriors added Jimmy Butler to their roster in February. Butler previously played for the Minnesota Timberwolves and was an All-Star with the team in 2017-18 before being involved in a trade to the Philadelphia 76ers in 2018.
Anthony Edwards leads the Timberwolves, averaging 26.8 points in the playoffs. Julius Randle has also performed well, scoring 22.6 points per game in the previous round. Other Minnesota players like Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid, and Rudy Gobert contribute to the team's efforts.
The Warriors lineup features Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, in addition to Butler. Brandon Podziemski averaged 11 points in the first round. During their first-round series against the Rockets, Alperen Sengun shot 39% when guarded by Green. Buddy Hield also had a strong Game 7 performance for the Warriors.
Golden State won the regular-season series against Minnesota 3-1, but all those games occurred before Butler joined the team from the Miami Heat.
Experts have offered their thoughts on the series outcome. Four of six forecasters providing expert picks favor the Timberwolves to advance to the Western Conference finals.
"We're excited. We're thrilled," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "When I think back to the trade deadline, where we were as a team, I'm so proud of these guys for what they've accomplished to put us in a position, as Steph says, to play meaningful basketball and give ourselves a chance."
