MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Anthony Edwards approached for a handshake during Julius Randle’s postgame TV interview, the duo putting a seal on another dominant series for Minnesota in these NBA playoffs.
Randle scored 29 points on 13-for-18 shooting to send the Timberwolves to the Western Conference finals for the second straight year with a 121-110 victory over the Golden State Warriors in Game 5 on Wednesday night.
“I just try to do my best to read the game in the best way I can,” Randle said. “They threw different coverages at us all series long.”
Edwards had 22 points and 12 assists for the sixth-seeded Wolves, who will face the Denver-Oklahoma City winner next. They could get five days off, if the Nuggets beat the Thunder on Thursday to force a Game 7 in the other West semifinal series.
Brandin Podziemski had a playoff career-high 28 points for the Warriors, who again played without star Stephen Curry because of the hamstring strain that forced him out of the second quarter in Game 1 and took the heart out of their entire offensive operation.
“I don’t want to take anything away from what Minnesota just accomplished,” coach Steve Kerr said. “No sense in even talking about Steph.”
Jonathan Kuminga provided another energy boost off the bench with 26 points, but Podziemski’s performance came too late and the production from Jimmy Butler and Buddy Hield was consistently too little after they led the series-opening win.
Golden State presented far more of a defensive challenge than the Los Angeles Lakers did for Minnesota during their five-game series in the first round, but the collection of every-level scorers the Wolves can throw at an opponent when they’re moving the ball and pushing the pace simply wore down the Warriors over the course of the series.
Rudy Gobert was a force around the rim with 17 points, Mike Conley had 16 points and eight assists, and Donte DiVincenzo snapped out of a slump with 13 points as the Wolves shot a staggering 77% on 2-pointers (36 for 47). They set franchise postseason records for assists (36) and field goal percentage (62.8%).
Series close-out games can sometimes be the toughest to win, but the Wolves played with a ferocity paired with their shooting touch that all but portended victory. Randle kept up his superb postseason, providing a constant source of energy and production.
The Wolves stretched their lead as high as 25 points in the third quarter, large enough to withstand a late Warriors push that pulled them to 99-90 with 7:11 left. But Edwards answered with a 3, and the crowd started mixing “Wolves in 5! Wolves in 5!” chants in with the roars for each made basket that got them closer to advancing.
“There is no satisfaction,” Edwards said. “We just got here.”
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