NBA

It was a vintage performance from Playoff Jimmy. Unfortunately for the Warriors, things didn’t quite go their way down the stretch. A 9-0 Timberwolves run with about five minutes left in the fourth quarter overlapped with a sequence where Draymond Green picked up two fouls in less than 20 seconds and fouled out of the game. Butler’s 33 points were enough to keep the Warriors in it until late even without Steph Curry (hamstring). Golden State will have to find a way to win one of the next two games before Curry could potentially return in Game 6.

The triple-double was the first of Randle’s playoff career. He continues to be excellent in these playoffs as the Timberwolves seem poised for a Western Conference Finals run. Randle had three clutch assists in the final minutes of the fourth quarter as the Timberwolves pulled away from the Warriors. His assist on an Anthony Edwards three-pointer with 1:19 to go that extended their lead to seven points was the dagger. This series will continue Monday night in Golden State as the Timberwolves look to go up 3-1 in the series.

While Edwards was somewhat quiet in the first half with eight points, he went off in the second half with 28 points. It’s the highest-scoring half by anyone so far in these playoffs. Edwards threw in the dagger with a three-pointer that gave the Timberwolves a seven-point lead with 1:19 remaining in the fourth quarter. Minnesota looks like the better team as they’ve convincingly won the last two games as the Warriors soldier on without Stephen Curry (hamstring). Edwards and the Timberwolves will look to take a commanding 3-1 series lead in Game 4 on Monday.

Curry is sitting out his second game in a row Saturday with the first hamstring injury he’s ever dealt with in his 16-year career. The 37-year-old point guard suffered the injury back in Game 1, which the Warriors were still able to win. According to Charania, the Warriors are hoping they can just win one more game to push the series to at least a Game 6, which would be the earliest Curry could return. Golden State could benefit from a unique scheduling quirk which includes four days between Games 5 and 6 of this series. Game 6 falls on May 18, which would give Curry well over a week off and also shows how serious his injury is given that’s the earliest he could potentially return.

The Warriors have had to shuffle their lineup for Game 2 and now Game 3 with Stephen Curry out with a hamstring injury. In Game 2, the Warriors went with a bigger lineup and inserted Quinten Post in with the starters. Post played just three minutes as the Warriors fell behind early and lost by 24. Golden State will go with Jackson-Davis, who played 19 minutes off the bench in Game 2, in the starting lineup for Game 3. Jonathan Kuminga played the most minutes off the bench in Game 2 with 26 and should figure prominently in the Warriors plans again Saturday.

Towns scored just 14 points in the opening game of the series, but has now put up 21 points in both Game 2 and Game 3. He’s recorded at least 13 rebounds in all three games of the series so far. The 29-year-old power forward was caught on television holding his left hand and mouthing that he broke one of his fingers, though it’s unclear if that was actually the case. Given the stakes of this series, we can expect Towns to play through the potential injury even if he’s somewhat limited. The series is off Sunday before Game 4 on Monday, which happens to be the most important Knicks game in quite some time.

Brunson bounced back from 17 points in Game 2 to put up 27 points in Game 3. The 28-year-old point guard’s best utility is his ability to score difficult points in the fourth quarter of close games. Unfortunately for the Knicks, there wasn’t a close game for Brunson to work his magic and tilt in the Knicks’ favor Saturday as the Celtics took Game 3 by 22 points. Brunson still played 40 minutes and every Knicks starter played at least 31 minutes in the loss. The Knicks will get one day off before Game 4 on Monday night, where they’ll have the chance to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series at home.

Brown didn’t have his best game with 19 points on 18 shots, but in a game where the Celtics needed his scoring they’ll take that even if he got there on volume rather than efficiency. The 28-year-old small forward appears to be playing at less than 100 percent after dealing with a knee issue down the stretch of the regular season. While the Celtics were able to blowout the Knicks by 22 in Game 3, we still haven’t seen them win a close game late against New York. Boston will need all hands on deck including Brown if they find themselves in a dogfight against the Knicks in Game 4 Monday.

One of the adjustments that was on the table for the Celtics entering Game 3 was to give Pritchard more minutes, which is exactly what they did. Kristaps Porzingis is clearly at less than 100 percent while dealing with an illness and only saw 19 minutes in Game 3 while Pritchard played 34 minutes, which is the most he’s played in any game this series. The Celtics adjusted by playing Pritchard more, but didn’t back down at the three-point line as they hoisted 40 shots from downtown. Pritchard made 5-of-10 three-pointers as the Celtics took Game 3 by 22 points. It’s likely that this is an adjustment that could stick and Pritchard will be more of a fixture over the rest of the series than he was in the first two games.