In San Francisco, the absence of Stephen Curry due to a hamstring injury, left the Golden State Warriors striving to find their rhythm in a 102-97 defeat against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 3 on Saturday night. Sporting a gray tracksuit, Curry watched from the bench as his teammates faltered in their three-point shooting during the first half, despite maintaining a narrow 42-40 lead at the break.
In a sluggish start from long range, the Warriors missed their initial five attempts from beyond the arc, failing to score a three-pointer until Buddy Hield converted just 35 seconds into the third quarter. Before this match, the Warriors had topped the playoffs with 135 successful three-pointers. They managed to regain some footing by sinking 6 out of 11 threes in the third quarter to go up 73-69, wrapping up the game with 10 out of 23 three-point shots.
“Creating three-point opportunities is tough, especially without Steph as our point guard,” remarked coach Steve Kerr. “Jimmy Butler generates plenty, but it’s not the same as Steph’s ability to stretch the defense. We have to explore ways to revamp our shot creation and scoring mechanisms.”
This day marked an unusual instance for the Warriors—they couldn’t land a three in the first half of a playoff game since partway through a 112-99 defeat against Dallas in the 2007 first round. Moreover, it was the first occurrence in the play-by-play era, since 1997, where they didn’t net a three in an initial half during postseason play. Few teams this postseason, including the Minnesota Timberwolves and Boston Celtics, faced similar struggles in certain games, but no such instance had occurred over the previous six postseasons.
Additionally, Golden State made history by becoming the first team since the Toronto Raptors in 2017 to lead at halftime without scoring a single three. Curry, who injured his left hamstring in Game 1 against Minnesota, will be re-evaluated on Wednesday.
With Curry sidelined, Buddy Hield brought attention to the offense by making four threes and scoring all 14 of his points in the latter half of the game. “Before, even with Steph, we couldn’t get three-point shots easily,” noted Hield. “Now, with the defense focusing more on me, I must find how to execute without forcing bad shots, adhering instead to the game’s natural flow and energy.”