NBA Notes: Timberwolves, Anthony Edwards, Warriors, Jonathan Kuminga, Pistons

Timberwolves

The Timberwolves responded to their Game 1 stumble with authority, throttling the Warriors 117-93 in Game 2 behind a wire-to-wire effort — and a gutsy return from their young star.

Anthony Edwards scored 23 points in the win but gave Minnesota a brief scare in the second quarter when he rolled his already-injured left ankle after a collision at the rim with Warriors center Trayce Jackson-Davis. The play sent Edwards to the floor in visible pain and to the locker room shortly after.

Head coach Chris Finch didn’t expect to see him back.

“This one, I was really planning on not seeing him the rest of the game, to be honest with you,” Finch said, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.

But Edwards, already nursing the ankle from a tweak in Game 4 of the first round, got treatment and re-entered the game in the second half, showing the kind of resolve Minnesota is increasingly leaning on.

“Once we got to like the third movement in my ankle, I’m like, ‘All right, it’s starting to feel good. If we tape it, I’ll see how it feels,” Edwards said, adding praise for Wolves VP of medical operations David Hines.

Minnesota’s second-half surge sealed it, with the Timberwolves locking in defensively and taking full advantage of Stephen Curry’s absence for Golden State. Curry missed Game 2 due to a Grade 1 hamstring strain suffered in the series opener.

Edwards called it “the biggest game of our career” — and he plans to be full-go for Game 3 in San Francisco. As of Friday night, he’s no longer listed on the injury report.

Warriors

With Curry sidelined by what Warriors coach Steve Kerr described as a “tricky” hamstring strain, Golden State finds itself reshaping its identity in real time.

“There’s no Steph. It’s a completely different team,” Kerr said, per The Athletic’s Anthony Slater. And with Game 3 looming, that “different team” will now lean on youth and energy, namely Jonathan Kuminga and Jackson-Davis.

Kuminga, who was largely a bystander in the Warriors’ first-round series against Houston, erupted for 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting in 26 minutes during Game 2 against Minnesota. For a team suddenly short on creators — outside of the veteran poise of Jimmy Butler and the emerging poise of Brandin Podziemski — Kuminga’s ability to slash, finish, and generate rim pressure becomes essential.

“Everything has to be about finding a new formula,” Kerr said. “And [Kuminga] is absolutely a part of that formula.”

Jackson-Davis, meanwhile, is carving out a role by doing the little things loudly. The second-year big man finished with 15 points and six rebounds in just 19 minutes of Game 2 action, a stark uptick from his sparse playoff usage thus far.

“[He] showed he can be effective against this team,” Kerr added, suggesting the Warriors may pivot more heavily toward their defensive-minded personnel with Curry out.

• Meanwhile, Butler isn’t quite himself, and he’s the first to admit it. The Warriors forward acknowledged after Game 2 that he’s still dealing with the aftermath of a hard fall sustained in the first round against Houston, which left him with a pelvic contusion. “It’s still there,” Butler said in a video posted by Slater. “I’m playing through it.”
• The numbers hint at the impact. Butler is shooting just 39.4% from the field through two games against the Timberwolves — a noticeable dip for a player who typically elevates in the postseason. But in classic Butler fashion, he’s finding other ways to leave fingerprints on the game. The 34-year-old has averaged nine rebounds and six assists per night in the series, continuing to serve as a steadying presence for a Warriors team now scrambling without Curry.

Pistons 

As the Pistons approach a pivotal offseason, the futures of their veteran free agents remain in flux.

Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press ranked the likelihood of Detroit’s top four unrestricted veterans returning this summer, identifying sharpshooter Malik Beasley as the most likely to re-sign. He was followed, in order, by Dennis Schroder, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Paul Reed.

Sankofa noted there could be mutual interest in keeping any of the four, but added that Hardaway seems poised to explore the open market, while Reed’s fit may be complicated by Detroit’s need for more frontcourt size.

Plenty can shift in the coming weeks and months, but as of now, Beasley appears to have the clearest path back to Motown.