The Warriors Lost Steph Curry To Injury And Still Found A Way To Make NBA History By Pulling Off A Massive Game 1 Win On The Road In Minnesota

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These playoffs man, they just keep delivering at every turn. On the menu tonight? One of the most insane endings you're ever going to see in IND/CLE (or one of the most horrific collapses, depending on your rooting interest) followed up by a little NBA history. Who doesn't love that?

With the Warriors win tonight, for the first time in NBA history, every single road team won the opening game of the 2nd round.

Apparently, home court advantage doesn't mean dick in 2025. There seems to be this weird hex on every home team so far in their Game 1 that forces them to shoot like absolute dogshit, but you have to credit the lower seeds, they came out and played great and we officially have pure chaos in the NBA playoffs.

What makes this Warriors win so insane is the fact that they lost Steph Curry in the 2nd quarter with a strained hamstring

which was a bummer considering he was already starting to cook in his 13 minutes (13 points, 3 3PM) 

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and with a strained hamstring, you're looking at a minimum of a week and probably closer to 10+ days in terms of an absence given Curry's age. Given the schedule of this series, you're probably hoping for a Curry return by at least Game 5 on the 14th, but that's technically only 7-8 days. Depending on how severe the strain is, it's not crazy to think we won't see him again until a potential Game 6, which falls on the 18th. I cannot stress enough how much that fucking sucks. Injuries are already starting to become a factor in this round (just ask CLE), and any time you remove Steph Curry from the equation, that stinks out loud. Steph in the playoffs are why we watch. Nobody is built for this moment better than him, but you have to be super careful here, especially with an injury like a hamstring, which can linger.

Curry's injury and what it could mean moving forward is why this win was so massive for the Warriors. On the road against a top 3 seed without Steph Curry, and you not only steal that win, but sneaky had your way with the Wolves? The Warriors got up by as much as 20 in the 3rd quarter, and while the Wolves did make things respectable with a fourth quarter run, make no mistake, the Warriors whooped that ass in Game 1 without Steph Curry. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY could have seen that coming when Steph went out.

How they did it was also what made no sense. Draymond Green was making 3s while also doing standard Draymond Green things

Cam Spencer was making Sky Hooks like he was Kareem which was both wildly impressive and very funny considering the stakes of this game

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Buddy Hield turned an 0-7 first half into a 24/8/3 performance while making 5 3PM and finishing a +22. Just like he did in Game 7, Hield's shotmaking was able to carry them without Curry. This looks much more like October/November Hield, and you'll remember that guy shot about 49% from deep on high volume. 

Playoff Jimmy was also a major factor, with a 20/11/8 and +20 of his own, which included ridiculous makes like this

With Steph out, that means the Warriors had to lock in defensively, and just like their Dynasty version, this team had the Wolves in hell. Holding them to just 88 points and one of the worst shooting performances of their season, the foundation of when the Warriors were at their best will always be their defense. They just make it impossible for you to score, and once you start turning it over (MIN had 16), good luck. That end of the floor is what the Warriors are going to have to rely on to survive without Steph, and if they can continue to defend at this level, I see no reason why they can't.

For the Wolves, they caught on late but at that point the damage was done. They shot just 31/0% in that first half, with a brutal 0-15 from deep. At their worst, they dropped to 1-17. As we just saw in BOS/NYK, making your threes is kind of important in 2025. Missing every one you take tends to lead to you losing playoff games at home that you probably shouldn't be losing, and I'd say to the Warriors without Steph fits that category. Anthony Edwards didn't hit a single shot in the first half (0-8), and was just 4-15 through 3 quarters. Donte DiVincenzo was 3-10, Randle was 4-11, at some point, you have to score,e and there was simply no offensive execution through 3 quarters for MIN. Who knew missing every shot you take wouldn't work out, and as a result, the Wolves found themselves down by 20 entering the final frame. I commend them for getting it under 10 at moments, but sometimes you've dug too deep a hole to climb out of. Now, without homecourt advantage, all the pressure in the world is on the Wolves entering Game 2. 

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