The Warriors took advantage of some extremely poor Timberwolves shooting to win Game 1 in Minnesota and snatch home-court advantage in a 99-88 rock fight. But it was hard for Golden State to celebrate much after Stephen Curry suffered a hamstring strain in the second quarter.
Curry seemed en route to another special performance when he suffered the injury, having already scored 13 points and made three more 3-pointers to extend his NBA playoff record to 650 by the time he went down. In Curry’s place, Buddy Hield followed up his heroics in Sunday’s first-round Game 7 win over the Rockets with five 3-pointers and 24 points. Draymond Green led a superb defensive effort for Golden State and added 18 points and four 3-pointers of his own.
Jimmy Butler, the former Timberwolves star playing in Minnesota for the first time in nearly four years, quieted a hostile crowd with 20 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds. As for the Timberwolves, they failed to make a 3-pointer until their 17th attempt from deep, which came in the third quarter, and finished 5-for-29 from beyond the arc. Anthony Edwards had 23 points, but only one in the first half as he missed his first 10 shots from the field.`
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How did Warriors win Game 1 after Steph Curry injury? With depth and toughness
